Two new labenopimpline ichneumonids (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) from the Upper Cretaceous of southern Africa

Abstract

Two new species of Labenopimplinae, Labenopimpla orapa sp. n. and Rugopimpla botswana sp. n., are described from the Upper Cretaceous (Turonian) deposits of Orapa in Botswana. These are the first and only known Cretaceous Ichneumonidae from the southern hemisphere. The new species seem to be very similar to their relatives from the Cenomanian of the Russian Far East. This indicates a wide distribution of Ichneumonidae by the early Late Cretaceous at least.