New Genus, New Species from Republic

Ulteramus Republicensis fossil discovered in Republic fossil beds.
Ulteramus Republicensis fossil discovered in Republic fossil beds.

Order Hymenoptera Linnaeus, 1758 Infraorder Siricomorpha Rasnitsyn, 1980 Superfamily Pamphilioidea Cameron, 1890 Family Pamphiliidae Cameron, 1890 Subfamily incertae sedis Genus Ulteramus Archibald and Rasnitsyn, new genus Type species. Ulteramus republicensis Archibald and Rasnitsyn, new species Etymology.

The genus name is formed from the Latin ulter, meaning on the farther side,ulteramus republicensisand ramus, meaning branch, referring to the distal position of the joining of Sc1 and R distinctive within the Pamphiliidae. Gender masculine.

Ulteramus republicensis Archibald and Rasnitsyn, new species

A mostly complete and well preserved forewing, only missing portions of the apical-most and basal-most portions and the region between C and R mostly folded and damaged; housed in the BM collection; collected by Wesley Wehr in 1993.

Etymology. The specific epithet republicensis refers to the known locality of this species.

Age and locality. Ypresian; Klondike Mountain Formation exposure A0307B (BM locality code), Republic, Washington, United States of America.

A more complete fossil is needed to determine if U. republicensis extends the age of an extant subfamily back to the Ypresian, or if the history of the family becomes more complex with the establishment of a new, extinct subfamily.

Published online November 2015: http://www.brucearchibald.com/docs/Archibald-and-Rasnitsyn-2015-Siricomorpha.pdf