Another one bites the dust: A new Lithoserix species (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae, Pimplinae) from the early Oligocene in France, with an evaluation of wing morphometrics

Abstract

A new Darwin wasp species, Lithoserix oublieri sp. nov. is described and illustrated from the early Oligocene limestone formation Calcaires de Campagne-Calavon in the Luberon Region, France. It represents the third species of this extinct genus, which was first described from the late Eocene Florissant Formation in Colorado, US and later found in Aix-en-Provence, France, from the late Oligocene. The taxonomic placement of this genus in the context of tribal classification is analysed and discussed, based on geometric morphometrics of the fore and hind wing venation of fossil and extant Pimplinae species. The results suggest that Lithoserix does not belong to the same group as the extinct genus Crusopimpla, but rather represents a more basal genus within Pimplini or belongs to an extinct separate tribe, closely related to Pimplini.