Anaxyelinae Martynov, 1925

Kopylov, Dmitry S., 2019, New anaxyelids (Hymenoptera: Anaxyelidae) from the Cretaceous of Asia, Zootaxa 4603 (2), pp. 341-353 : 343-344

Subfamily Anaxyelinae Martynov, 1925

Identification key for genera of Anaxyelinae

1. Pterostigma widely desclerotized......................................................................... 2

- Pterostigma sclerotized, rarely with tiny desclerotized spot.................................................... 3

2. Apical section of ovipositor sheath at least 1.5 × as long as basal section, ovipositor cylindric..... Anaxyela Martynov, 1925

- Apical section of ovipositor sheath as long as or shorter than basal section, ovipositor tapered apically.............................................................................................. Sphenosyntexis Rasnitsyn, 1969

3. Antenna serrate; hind wing with r-m joining M well before m-cu, M between r-m and m-cu 2 × as long as r-m......................................................................................... Anasyntexis Rasnitsyn, 1968

- Antenna smooth, rarely moniliform, but never serrate; hind wing with r-m joining M before or after m-cu, but never displaced basad from m-cu for more than 1 × r-m length.............................................................. 4

4. Apical section of ovipositor sheath at least 3 × as long as basal section; ovipositor as long as or longer than body....................................................................................... Kulbastavia Rasnitsyn, 1968

- Apical section of ovipositor sheath less than 1.5 × as long as basal section; ovipositor significantly shorter than body...... 5

5. Ovipositor very short, its apical section less than 0.5 × as long as basal section............. Brachysyntexis Rasnitsyn, 1969

- Ovipositor rather long, its apical section as long as or longer than basal section.................................... 6

6. Basal part of flagellum, consisting of one or a few flagellomeres, very robust, much thicker than its apical part; fore wing with 5-M as long as or slightly shorter than 2m-cu.......................................... Syntexyela Rasnitsyn, 1968

- Flagellum setiform, gradually tapering apically; fore wing with 5-M less than 0.5 × as long as 2m-cu................................................................................................. Urosyntexis Rasnitsyn, 1969

Remarks. The genus Urosyntexis was separated from Syntexyela basing on a few findings from Karatau, Kazakhstan ( Rasnitsyn, 1969). Subsequent finding of Cretaceous Syntexyela continentalis ( Zhang, Rasnitsyn, 2006) have filled the morphological gap between these genera and made its distinguishing rather problematic. The not described representatives of Urosyntexis and/or Syntexyela were also found in the Jurassic of Daohugou, China (personal data), and the identification of these specimens basing on the characters originally proposed by Rasnitsyn (1968, 1969) is impossible. The revision and, probably, the synonymization of these two genera is required. However, this revision without the inclusion of the Chinese collections will not be reliable. Here I preliminary assign the new species to Urosyntexis basing on its antenna without thickened basal flagellomeres, short 5-M and rather short ovipositor.