The oldest representative of the extant genus Epyris in the Lowermost Eocene amber of France (Hymenoptera: Bethylidae: Epyrinae)

Elsa Falières , André Nel (1)

1 ISYEB - Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité

If Bethylidae are rather frequent in the Cretaceous amber, the fossil record of the subfamily Epyrinae is dated from the Eocene Baltic and Rovno amber and Oligocene lacustrine outcrops from France, Germany, UK, and USA (Azevedo et al. 2018). Only one species, Epyris atavellus Cockerell, 1920, is recorded from the mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber, but its exact affinities remain uncertain (see below). The Lowermost Eocene Oise amber has given two Epyrinae, viz. Elektroepyris magnificus Perrichot & Nel, 2008, and Chlorepyris gallicus (Perrichot & Nel, 2008). With the third species we describe herein, they represent the oldest accurate records of this subfamily.

Domains: Life Sciences [q-bio]; Biodiversity; Systematics, Phylogenetics and taxonomy

Elsa Falières, André Nel. The oldest representative of the extant genus Epyris in the Lowermost Eocene amber of France (Hymenoptera: Bethylidae: Epyrinae). Palaeoentomology, 2018, 1 (1), pp.32-36. ⟨10.11646/palaeoentomology.1.1.3⟩. ⟨mnhn-03975503⟩