Protaphycus shuvalikovi Simutnik gen. et sp. nov. (Chalcidoidea, Encyrtidae, Encyrtinae) from Rovno amber

Abstract

Protaphycus shuvalikovi Simutnik gen. et sp. nov., the smallest fossil Encyrtidae, is described and illustrated based on female specimen from late Eocene Rovno amber. Like most previously described Eocene Encyrtidae, the new taxon differs from the majority of extant encyrtids by the subapical position of the cerci, the relatively long marginal vein of the forewing, a distinctly swollen but not triangular parastigma, and a seta marking the apex of the postmarginal vein is not any longer than others on this vein. The new genus is characterized by the presence of a filum spinosum and the hypopygium reaching way past the apex of syntergum. This combination of the character states is known only in a few representatives of extant Encyrtinae. The new genus, probably, most closely related to the extant genus Aphycus Mayr, 1876.