The genus Macroteleia Westwood in Middle Miocene amber from Peru (Hymenoptera, Platygastridae s.l., Scelioninae)

Abstract

A new species of the scelionine genus Macroteleia Westwood (Platygastridae s.l., Scelioninae) is described and figured from a female beautifully preserved in middle Miocene amber from Peru. Macroteleia yaguarum Perrichot & Engel, sp. n., shows a unique combination of characters otherwise seen independently within its congeners. It is most similar to the modern M. surfacei Brues, but differs from it by the non-foveolate notauli, the contiguous punctures of the vertex, and the continuous propodeum. The new species is the first New World fossil of the genus, suggesting a Cretaceous origin for the group and a relatively old age of the South American, tropical African, and Australian faunas, and a younger age of the modern Holarctic faunas.