Aptenoperissus

Aptenoperissus is a genus of extinct wasp with eight described species, placed into the monotypic family Aptenoperissidae. The type species Aptenoperissus burmanicus resembles a mix between a grasshopper, an ant, and a wasp. It was described by a group of researchers from Oregon State University in a paper released online in October 2016.[1] The piece of 100 million year old Burmese amber that it was preserved in was found in the Hukawng Valley of Myanmar in Southern Asia. A new family, Aptenoperissidae, was described to accommodate this insect. Aptenoperissus had a strong stinger for defense against predators and to stab grubs for its food. The creature had long legs making it perfect for jumping higher than most insects.[2] Subsequently additional species were described from the Myanmar amber: A. amabilis, A. delicatus, A. formosus,[3] A. etius, A. magnifemoris, A. pusillus[4] and A. zonalis.[5]

Aptenoperissus Temporal range: Cenomanian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Aprenoperissus burmanicus holotype
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Superfamily:	Ceraphronoidea Haliday, 1833
Family:	†Aptenoperissidae Rasnitsyn et al., 2017
Genus:	†Aptenoperissus Rasnitsyn et al., 2017
Type species
Aprenoperissus burmanicus Rasnitsyn et al., 2017
Species
A. burmanicus A. amabilis A. delicatus A. formosus A. etius A. magnifemoris A. pusillus

References

1. Williams, Kale (October 11, 2016). "Oregon State researchers discover ancient wingless wasp species encased in prehistoric amber". The Oregonian/OregonLive. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
2. Rasnitsyn, A.P.; Poinar, George; Brown, Alex E. (2017). "Bizzare [sic] wingless parasitic wasp from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber (Hymenoptera, Ceraphronoidea, Aptenoperissidae fam. nov.)". Cretaceous Research. 69: 113–118. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2016.09.003. ISSN 0195-6671.
3. Zhang, Q.; Rasnitsyn, A.P.; Wang, B.; Zhang, H. (2018). "New data about the enigmatic wasp from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber (Hymenoptera, Stephanoidea, Aptenoperissidae)". Cretaceous Research. 84: 173–180. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2017.10.024.
4. Alexandr P. Rasnitsyn; Christoph Öhm-Kühnle (2018). "Three new female Aptenoperissus from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber (Hymenoptera, Stephanoidea, Aptenoperissidae): Unexpected diversity of paradoxical wasps suggests insular features of source biome". Cretaceous Research. 91: 168–175. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2018.06.004.
5. Qi Zhang; Alexandr P. Rasnitsyn; Haichun Zhang (2018). "New female of Aptenoperissus from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber (Hymenoptera, Stephanoidea, Aptenoperissidae)". Cretaceous Research. 92: 8–11. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2018.07.015.