A new genus and species of pemphredonine wasp in Late Cretaceous Vendean amber (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae)

Abstract

A new genus and species of pemphredonine wasp is described and figured in Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian to Santonian) amber from Vendée, in northwestern France. Menopsila dupeae n. gen. and sp., is based on a partial male preserved in a small sliver of translucent amber. The genus is placed incertae sedis within the Pemphredonini, as it intermingles features, likely plesiomorphies, of various lineages within the tribe. It likely represents a stem group to one or more of the constituent subtribes, yet it is arguably most similar to the Spilomenina.