A horntail wasp from the Upper Miocene of France closely related to an extant Eastern Palaearctic species (Hymenoptera: Siricidae)

Abstract

The new siricid wasp Xeris muratensis sp. nov. is described from the Upper Miocene (ca. 5.60 ± 0.3 Ma) Konservat-Laggerstätte of Sainte-Reine (Cantal, France). Its wing venation characters closely resemble those of the extant Eastern Palaearctic siricid species Xeris malaisei Maa. The new species has a completely black body, vs. presence of yellow spots on head and thorax in X. malaisei. The entomofauna in this lacustrine maar consists of a mixture of extinct species or taxa lacking modern relatives that disappeared during the Pliocene-Pleistocene, and taxa with no discernible difference from their potential extant relatives.