Corresponding author: Serguei A. Simutnik (
Academic editor: V. Gokhman
Another earliest representative of the family
Simutnik SA, Perkovsky EE, Vasilenko DV (2021)
The first described species of fossil
The age of Sakhalinian amber, the history of its study and the nature of its biota have been discussed in detail in a number of recent works (
Terminology and abbreviations follow
All measurements are given in millimeters. The images were taken using a Leica Z16 APO stereomicroscope equipped with a Leica DFC 450 camera and processed with LAS V3.8 software. To improve imaging, we applied sucrose syrup of approximately the same refractive index as the amber itself and then placed a glass cover slip on top; after that, syrup was removed by warm water. Some images were then enhanced using Adobe Photoshop (brightness and contrast only).
The following abbreviations are used in the text and plates of illustrations: Mt1, Mt2, etc. = metasomal terga, numbering starts from petiole (Mt1);
Type species.
From “Sakhalin” and “
Habitus not ‘encyrtiform’, body not compact, without metallic shine; vertex above upper level of eyes (frontal view); interantennal prominence not high, without carina; eyes relatively small, convex, almost circular, height of eye as long as malar space; pedicel shorter than first two funicular segments combined; clava with an oblique truncation extending along entire ventral surface and without sutures; pronotum short; all coxae large; parastigma distinctly widened, but not triangular; mesotibial spur slightly longer than basitarsus, cerci located at almost non-dilated apex of gaster; Mt8 small, U-shaped; hypopygium short, almost reaching apex of metasoma, genitalia weakly sclerotized, transparent, with a long phallobase and short aedeagus (excluding apodemes), without visible digiti.
Placement of the new genus and species into the family
However, cerci of the new genus are located extremely close to the apex of gaster. As in other known males in Sakhalinian amber, such a position of the cerci is not found among the extant
The new genus somewhat resembles the extant genus
A close relationship of some examined but undescribed fossil
The forewing venation of the new genus is very similar to that of
An undescribed female of
The species is named after Prof. Arkady Stepanovich Lelej, a world-class expert on
Body length, 0.9 mm. Habitus as in Figs
The
Comparative morphological analysis of the representatives of middle and late Eocene fossil faunas (
We are sincerely grateful to Alexandr P. Rasnitsyn, Vladimir E. Gokhman, and Emilio Guerrieri for discussion, valuable comments, improving English, and the material provided. The study was supported by the National Research Foundation of Ukraine grant “Leading and Young Scientists Research Support” (registration number 2020.02 / 0369) for the first author.