Prohepialus

Prohepialus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Hepialidae
Genus: Prohepialus
Piton, 1940
Species:
P. incertus
Binomial name
Prohepialus incertus
Piton, 1940

Prohepialus is an extinct genus of insect of uncertain phylogenetic placement. It was originally identified as a moth in the family Hepialidae; however, Simonsen, Wagner & Heikkilä (2019) considered it more likely to be a symphytan wasp.[1] It contains only one species, Prohepialus incertus, which was described from a Thanetian crater lake diatomite (Paleocene) in Menat (Puy-de-Dôme), France. A second specimen is known from the Bembridge Marls (Eocene) in the United Kingdom.[2]

  1. ^ Thomas J. Simonsen; David L. Wagner; Maria Heikkilä (2019). "Ghosts from the past: a review of fossil Hepialoidea (Lepidoptera)". PeerJ. 7: e7982. doi:10.7717/peerj.7982. PMC 6855209. PMID 31737446.
  2. ^ Paleobiology database