''Cuspilongus'' is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of parasitic wasp in the sawfly family

Cephidae Cephidae is a family of stem sawflies in the order Hymenoptera. There are about 27 genera and more than 160 described species in Cephidae. Genera These 27 genera belong to the family Cephidae: * '' Athetocephus'' Benson, 1935 * '' Australcep ...

. At the time of its description the new genus comprised a single species named ''Cuspilongus cachecreekensis'', known from an

Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene' ...

fossil found in North America. D. Kopylov and A. Rasnitsyn (2016) transferred ''"Mesocephus" ghilarovi'', known from the

Early Cretaceous The Early Cretaceous ( geochronological name) or the Lower Cretaceous (chronostratigraphic name), is the earlier or lower of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous. It is usually considered to stretch from 145 Ma to 100.5 Ma. Geology Pro ...

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

, to the genus as ''Cuspilongus ghilarovi''.

History and classification

''C. cachecreekensis'' is known only from one fossil, a part and counterpart

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...

, specimen number F-1545 & F-1546, which is housed in the collections of the Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, British Columbia. ''Cuspilongus'' was described from a specimen which was recovered from outcrops of the early Eocene,

Ypresian In the geologic timescale the Ypresian is the oldest age (geology), age or lowest stage (stratigraphy), stratigraphic stage of the Eocene. It spans the time between , is preceded by the Thanetian Age (part of the Paleocene) and is followed by th ...

McAbee Fossil Beds The McAbee Fossil Beds is a Heritage Site that protects an Eocene Epoch fossil locality east of Cache Creek, British Columbia, Canada, just north of and visible from Provincial Highway 97 / the Trans-Canada Highway ( Highway 1). The McAbee Fos ...

near

Cache Creek, British Columbia Cache Creek is a historic transportation junction and incorporated village northeast of Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada. It is on the Trans-Canada Highway in the province of British Columbia at a junction with Highway 97. The same int ...

. The unnamed formation outcropping at the McAbee Fossil Beds preserve an upland temperate flora that was first interpreted as being Microthermal, although further study has shown them to be more mesothermal in nature. The plant community preserved in the McAbee Fossil Beds site is mostly broadleaf pollen with alder and

elm Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the flowering plant genus ''Ulmus'' in the plant family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical-montane regions of North ...

dominating, and may represent a successional forest involving multiple volcanic ash eruptions. ''C. cachecreekensis'' was first studied by the paleoentomologists S. Bruce Archibald from Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia and

Alexandr Rasnitsyn Alexandr Pavlovich Rasnitsyn (Russian: Александр Павлович Расницын) is a Russian entomologist, expert in palaeoentomology, and Honored Scientist of the Russian Federation (2001). His scientific interests are centered on ...

of the A. A. Borissiak Paleontological Institute. Their 2015

type description A species description is a formal description of a newly discovered species, usually in the form of a scientific paper. Its purpose is to give a clear description of a new species of organism and explain how it differs from species that have be ...

of the new genus and species was published in the journal '' Canadian Entomologist''. The genus name ''Cuspilongus'' was coined by the researchers as a combination of the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

words ''cuspis'' which means "lance" and ''longus'' meaning long, in reference to the notable length of the holotype's

ovipositor The ovipositor is a tube-like organ used by some animals, especially insects, for the laying of eggs. In insects, an ovipositor consists of a maximum of three pairs of appendages. The details and morphology of the ovipositor vary, but typical ...

. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''cachecreekensis'' is in honor of the town of

, west of the type locality. ''Cuspilongus cachecreekensis'' was one of three sawfly species described in Archibald & Rasnitsyn's 2015 paper, the other two being '' Ulteramus republicensis'' and '' Ypresiosirex orthosemos'', from the

Klondike Mountain Formation The Klondike Mountain Formation is an Early Eocene (Ypresian) geological formation located in the northeast central area of Washington state. The formation, named for the type location designated in 1962, Klondike Mountain north of Republic, Wash ...

and the McAbee fossil beds respectively.

Description

''C. cachecreekensis''

The single described female of ''C. cachecreekensis'' is mostly complete, missing the legs entirely, with the antennae preserved in disarticulated segments, and portions of the abdomen are obscured. The female has a body length of approximately and an overall preserved length of with the ovipositor included. The head and thorax are dark in coloration, while the abdomen is light colored in the preserved and visible areas. Similarly the wings are lightly colored to hyaline, with the exception of the intercostal space, which is notably darkened. The abdomen is damaged but the ovipositor is preserved well, being about long with part of the sheath preserved, with both the ovipositor and sheath showing a downward curve. The genus is distinct from other members of the family in the length of the ovipositor, which is similar to the length of the forewing. Living members of the family have ovipositors that are only up to half the length of the forewing.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q28163461 Ypresian insects Fossils of British Columbia Fossils of Mongolia Fossil taxa described in 1988 Fossil taxa described in 2015 Cretaceous insects of Asia Prehistoric insects of North America Tranquille Formation †