Pristaulacus jarzembowskii, JOUAULT & NEL, 2022

JOUAULT, CORENTIN & NEL, ANDRÉ, 2022, The oldest crown representative of the family Aulacidae (Hymenoptera: Evanioidea) from the Paleocene of Menat (France), Palaeoentomology 5 (3), pp. 269-275 : 270

Pristaulacus jarzembowskii sp. nov.

( Figs 1–3 )

Material. Holotype MNT Nel ‘aulacid’ (part and counterpart of a body with wings attached), deposited in “Musée de Paléontologie de Menat”¸ Menat, Puy-deDôme, France.

Etymology. Named in honor of my friend and colleague Edmund Jarzembowski. The specific epithet is to be treated as a noun in a genitive case.

Diagnosis. Abdominal petiole short; body 13.7 mm long, forewing 7.1 mm long, with crossveins 2r-m and of 2Rs+M absent; 1Rs nearly perpendicular to Sc+R and to Rs+M.

Type locality and horizon. New quarry, Menat , Puy-de-Dôme , France; Middle Paleocene, Menat Basin .

Description. Head 2.0 mm long, 2.0 mm wide. Mesosoma 5.0 mm long, 2.0 mm wide, with structures hardly visible; Forewing hyaline, 7.1 mm long, 2.1 mm wide; pterostigma elongate, sclerotized, dark brown, 1.1 mm long, 0.3 mm wide; all visible veins tubular, crossveins 2r-m, 2Rs+M and 2m-cu absent; vein M+Cu slightly arched; vein 1Rs arising close to pterostigma base, straight; vein 1M arched, longer than 1Rs, aligned with 1cu-a; 1cu-a slightly arched; vein 1Cu straight, as long as Rs+M; Rs+M inclined toward posterior wing margin; r-rs arising from distal third of pterostigma, inclined toward wing apex; 2Rs oblique, slightly shorter than Rs+M; 3Rs slightly curved fading toward wing margin; 2M nearly aligned with Rs+M, fading toward wing apex; 1m-cu aligned with 2Rs, straight; cells C, R, 1Cu, 2Cu, 1M, and 1R1 closed by tubular veins; cell 1R1 wider but shorter than 2R1; cell 1M large, 1.2 mm long, 0.4 mm wide, trapezoidal with sides parallels. One hind wing very poorly preserved, with no vein visible. Legs not preserved. Petiole narrow at base and progressively widened, 1.1 mm long, only slightly visible above large propodeum; gaster 6.8 mm long, 2.9 mm wide, progressively widening distally.

Remarks. The Eocene aulacid genus Vectevania Cockerell, 1922 and the Mesozoic Electrofoenops Engel, 2017 , Electrofoenus Cockerell, 1917 , Exilaulacus Li et al., 2018 , Paleoaulacus Jouault & Nel, 2021 , Electrofoenia Jouault et al. 2020 differ from the new fossil in the narrower cell 1M, a very short basal part of M, and an elongate 2Rs+M ( Cockerell, 1922; Jennings et al., 2004c; Rasnitsyn, 2013; Engel, 2017; Turrisi & Ellenberger, 2019; Jouault et al., 2020; Jouault & Nel, 2021; Li et al., 2022). The Eocene genus Xuaulacites Hong, 2002 , now considered as Braconidae nomen dubium, strongly differs from the new fossil in the very short basal part of Rs ( Hong, 2002).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Pristaulacus jarzembowskii sp. nov., holotype MNT Nel ‘aulacid’, photograph of part. Scale bar = 1 mm.

FIGURE 2. Pristaulacus jarzembowskii sp. nov., holotype MNT Nel ‘aulacid’, photograph of counterpart. Scale bar = 1 mm.

FIGURE 3. Pristaulacus jarzembowskii sp. nov., holotype MNT Nel ‘aulacid’, photographs. A, Left forewing, with names of cells labeled. B, Right fore- and hind wings, with names of veins labelled. Scale bars = 1 mm.