Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 6, 2026

Prohepialus

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. 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.

Last revised
Jul 6, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
137 w
Citations
2
Source
Wikipedia ↗
Prohepialus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Clade: Pancrustacea
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

References

References

  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
External links