An ensign wasp in Late Eocene amber from Ukraine (Hymenoptera: Evaniidae)

The ensign wasps, family Evaniidae, are an immediately distinctive family of parasitoid Hymenoptera, characterized by the reduced metasomal gaster attached high to the mesosoma via a short petiolate first metasomal segment. Species are, where known, parasitoids of roach oothecae. Among the approximately 20 extant genera, the genus Evaniella Bradley, 1905 is a relatively common and widespread group, found throughout the New World and with approximately 75 described extant species (Deans, 2005). In fact, Evaniella is the most widespread New World genus of ensign wasps. Given this, it is remarkable that species of Evaniella should be found in the Eocene of Europe (vide infra), demonstrating a once greater distribution relative to today. Naturally, however, this presumes that the fossil species belong to the crown group of the genus and that the lineage is monophyletic. Monophyly of Evaniella has been supported in recent phylogenetic estimates (e.g., Sharanowski et al., 2019) but fossil species have yet to be included in such analyses for the family.