''Aptenoperissus'' is a genus of extinct

wasp A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. ...

with eight described species, placed into the

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...

family Aptenoperissidae. The type species ''Aptenoperissus burmanicus'' resembles a mix between a grasshopper, an

ant Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cretaceous period. More than 13,800 of an estimated total of ...

, and a wasp. It was described by a group of researchers from

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering c ...

in a paper released online in October 2016. The piece of 100 million year old

Burmese amber Burmese amber, also known as Burmite or Kachin amber, is amber from the Hukawng Valley in northern Myanmar. The amber is dated to around 100 million years ago, during the latest Albian to earliest Cenomanian ages of the mid-Cretaceous period. The ...

that it was preserved in was found in the

Hukawng Valley The Hukawng Valley ( my, ဟူးကောင်းချိုင့်ဝှမ်း; also spelt Hukaung Valley) is an isolated valley in Myanmar, roughly in area. It is located in Tanaing Township in the Myitkyina District of Kachin State ...

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

in Southern Asia. A new

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

, Aptenoperissidae, was described to accommodate this insect. Species of ''Aptenoperissus were'' wingless, with a strong stinger. The creature had long legs making it perfect for jumping higher than most insects. Subsequently additional species were described from the Myanmar amber: ''A. amabilis'', ''A. delicatus'', ''A. formosus'', ''A. etius'', ''A. magnifemoris'', ''A. pusillus'' and ''A. zonalis''. Initially placed in Ceraphronoidea, later studies placed it in Stephanoidea.

References

Ceraphronoidea Prehistoric insects of Asia Fossil taxa described in 2017 Burmese amber Fossils of Myanmar {{Apocrita-stub