New insights into the enigmatic Cretaceous family Spathiopterygidae (Hymenoptera: Diaprioidea)

Abstract

The Cretaceous family Spathiopterygidae (Hymenoptera: Diaprioidea), containing five species in four genera, showed a wide distribution from the upper Barremian to the Turonian. We describe two new representatives of the family from the upper Albian San Just outcrop in the eastern Iberian Peninsula that correspond to Diameneura marveni gen. et sp. nov. Santer and Álvarez-Parra and to a female member of Mymaropsis turolensis Engel and Ortega-Blanco, 2013. The forewing venation of Diameneura marveni gen. et sp. nov. is interpreted, allowing an appropriate comparison for future descriptions. Furthermore, we provide a diagnosis for Mymaropsis baabdaensis since no diagnosis was proposed in the initial paper. We indicate the taphonomic characteristics of the newly described specimens, discuss the interrelationships of the family, and provide new insights about the sexual dimorphism and palaeobiology of spathiopterygids.