Palaeomacropis EOCENICUS MICHEZ & NEL 2007
Creators: name: Michez, Denis
name: Nel, Andre
name: Menier, Jean-Jacques
name: Rasmont, Pierre
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2007
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Melittidae
Palaeomacropis

description: PALAEOMACROPIS EOCENICUS MICHEZ & NEL SP. NOV.
Etymology: eocenicus in reference to the Eocene age of the fossil.
Holotype: Female PA 3190 1/17, with a Nematocera (Diptera), some pollen and 14 male ants, ‘ LangloisMeurinne / De Ploëg’ collection, mounted in Canada Balsam, deposited in the Laboratoire de Paléontologie, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris.
Type locality: Le Quesnoy Farm, Chevrière (49°21′N, 02°41′E), region of Creil, Oise department (northern France).
Type strata: Early Eocene, in amber, approximately 53 Mya, Sparnacian, level MP7 of the mammalian fauna of Dormaal (Feugueur, 1963; Nel et al., 1999).
Specific diagnosis: See diagnosis of the genus.
Description: Head (Figs 2A, B, C, 3A, 4A): 0.90 mm long, 1.70 mm wide, 1.60 mm high. Glossa shorter than galea. Paraglossa densely hairy all over. Labial palpal segments similar and cylindrical. Stipes, prementum and cardo short. Mandible with very large preapical tooth on upper margin, apex pointed. Malar space 0.28 mm wide. Labrum with fringe of six bristles. Clypeus 0.34 mm long, 0.68 mm wide, densely punctured, space between punctures smaller than one diameter, area slightly convex. Face and vertex densely punctured, space between punctures smaller than one diameter. Facial foveae absent. Paraocular lobe does not extend to clypeus. Only one subantennal suture. Antenna with 12 antennomeres, first flagellar segment 0.02 mm long, scape 0.34 mm long, 0.12 mm wide. Eyes rather broad, 1.20 mm long, 0.60 mm wide, slightly converging towards clypeus.
Mesosoma (Figs 2B, 3A, 4B): 2.20 mm long, 1.90 mm wide, 1.64 mm high. Dorsolateral angle of pronotum with carina. Scutum, scutellum and postscutellum with scattered punctures, space between punctures larger than one diameter. Scrobal groove absent. Episternal groove weak in its dorsal part, almost disappearing ventrally. Propodeal triangle with obtuse lateral margin.
Legs (Figs 2E, 3B, 4A): fore femur 0.80 mm long, tibia 0.76 mm long, tarsi 0.86 mm long. Mid femur 0.76 mm long, tibia 0.64 mm long, tarsi 0.80 mm long. Middle coxa fully exposed laterally. Hind femur 0.80 mm long, tibia 0.94 mm long, 0.32 mm wide, tarsi 1.04 mm long, basitarsus 0.60 mm long, 0.16 mm wide. Hind tibial spurs slender and nearly straight, only slightly curved at apex. Hind tibia without basitibial plate, without tooth on inner face. Hind basitarsus narrower than femur, reaching second tarsomere at apex. Claws simple.
Forewing (Figs 3A, 4B): 3.60 mm long, 1.28 mm wide. Stigma present, longer than prestigma. Vein r arising well before apical margin of stigma. Margin of stigma convex on marginal cell. Marginal cell 0.98 mm long, 0.30 mm wide, tapering towards apex. Two submarginal cells, first submarginal cell 0.60 mm long, second submarginal cell 0.52 mm long, not much shorter than the first, second submarginal cell extending well beyond apex of stigma. Stigma basal to vein r with margins diverging apically. Beyond vein r, inner margin of stigma convex. Second submarginal crossvein not sinuated, at obtuse angle to distal part of radial sector. Basal vein M strongly curved.
Hindwing (Figs 3A, 4B): 2.50 mm long, 0.70 mm wide. Jugal lobe 0.60 mm long, much shorter than vannal lobe, 1.10 mm long.
Metasoma (Figs 2D, 4A): 2.76 mm long, 1.80 mm wide. Six exposed metasomal terga and sterna 1–4 with apex straight. Sternum 5 with concave apex. Terga and sterna punctured on base of setae.
Pilosity (Figs 2A, B, C, D, E, 3A, B, 4A, B): face and clypeus with simple, scattered, short, appressed setae. Scutum with very short, simple, suberect setae. Scutellum with apical fringe of simple, erect setae. Mesepisternum and dorsal part of metepisternum covered with plumose setae. Sides of propodeum with numerous long, simple setae, not forming corbicula. Propodeal triangle bare. Front and mid-femora with short, simple setae. Front basitarsus with dense plumose setae on inner side and scattered plumose setae on outer side. Mid basitarsus with dense plumose setae on inner and outer side. Scopa present on hind legs, with setae apparently not plumose. Hind trochanter with curved setae. Long, erect, simple setae on sterna S1, S2, S3, S4, and S5, distinctly longer on S2 than on other sterna. Terga with very short, simple, suberect setae.
description: Published as part of Michez, Denis, Nel, Andre, Menier, Jean-Jacques & Rasmont, Pierre, 2007, The oldest fossil of a melittid bee (Hymenoptera: Apiformes) from the early Eocene of Oise (France), pp. 701-709 in Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 150 (4) on pages 704-705, DOI: 10.1111/j.1096-3642.2007.00307.x, http://zenodo.org/record/4634899