| Discoscapa Temporal range: Upper Cretaceous (Cenomanian?) | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Crabronidae |
| Subfamily: | Crabroninae |
| Tribe: | † Discoscapini Poinar, 2020 |
| Genus: | † Discoscapa Poinar, 2020 |
| Species: | †D. apicula |
| Binomial name | |
| †Discoscapa apicula Poinar, 2020 | |
Discoscapa is an extinct genus of crabronid wasp, formerly considered one of the two oldest-known species of bees. The genus contains only one species Discoscapa apicula. The genus was described from an amber inclusion in Burmese Amber in 2020 by George Poinar Jr., a zoologist at Oregon State University. [1] [2] The fossil was found in a mine in the Hukawng Valley of northern Myanmar and is believed to date from the Cretaceous Period, 100 million years ago, the same age as Melittosphex burmensis , likewise previously considered the oldest known bee species; [3] as it comes from the same amber deposit, these two specimens are considered to be the same approximate age. More recent research has concluded that D. apicula is a wasp belonging to the subfamily Crabroninae, placed in its own tribe, Discoscapini. [4]
