The first fossil horntail wasp (Hymenoptera: Siricidae) from Lower Cretaceous Crato Formation in Brazil
Résumé
A new wood wasp, Cratosirex sennlaubi gen. et sp. nov., is described and figured from one specimen collected from the Lower Cretaceous Crato Formation in northeastern Brazil. This new genus is placed in the new siricid subfamily Cratosiricinae subfam. nov., based on a combination of plesiomorphic and autapomorphic characters. The presence of small and sub-equal forewing cells 1R1 and 2R1 is a synapomorphy with the extant subfamily Siricinae, absent in the other extinct subfamilies †Auliscinae and †Gigasiricinae, supporting a sister group relationships with the Siricinae. Our new discovery expands the distribution range of Siricidae fossil records, highlights the antiquity of the family, and emphasizes the need for more studies of this particular insect lineage in the Mesozoic deposits. Currently, all the representatives of the crown group of the extant Siricidae are Cenozoic.