Gonatocerus greenwalti Huber

Huber, John T. & Greenwalt, Dale, 2011, Compression fossil Mymaridae (Hymenoptera) from Kishenehn oil shales, with description of two new genera and review of Tertiary amber genera, ZooKeys 130, pp. 473-494 : 477

Gonatocerus greenwalti Huber sp. n. Figs 1416

Type material.

Holotype female (NMNH) labelled " Gonatocerus greenwalti Huber Holotype female #543763".

Description.

Female. Colour dark brown except apex of pedicel and legs beyond coxae lighter (yellowish). Holotype (Fig. 14) measurements as follows.Body length 926. Antenna (Fig. 15) with total funicle length 398; scape -, pedicel 51, fl1 35, fl2 42, fl3 57, fl4 54, fl5 56, fl6 55, fl7 56, fl8 54, clava 116. Mesosoma length 410. Fore wing (Fig. 16) length 730, width 273, length/width 2.67, longest marginal setae 58. Fore wing seemingly bare (without microtrichia) behind and just apical to the venation. Hind wing length 458, width 23, longest marginal setae 73. Metasoma length 460. Ovipositor length 417.

Comments.

Gonatocerus greenwalti differs from Gonatocerus kootenai and Gonatocerus rasnitsyni by the wider fore wing and thicker funicle segments. The apparent absence of microtrichia behind the venation, the wide fore wing, and fairly uniformly thick funicle segments suggest that Gonatocerus greenwalti should be classified in Gonatocerus (Cosmocomoidea) . The shale fragment in which the fossil occurs contains several aquatic insects (e.g., Notonectidae ), an indication of the lacustrine environment in which the mymarid lived (though it is not aquatic itself).

Derivation of species name.

Named by the senior author in honour of the junior author, Dale Greenwalt, who collected and curated the insect fossils from Kishenehn shale.