The Baeomorphidae (formerly known as Rotoitidae), are a very small family of rare,

relict A relict is a surviving remnant of a natural phenomenon. Biology A relict (or relic) is an organism that at an earlier time was abundant in a large area but now occurs at only one or a few small areas. Geology and geomorphology In geology, a r ...

ual

parasitic wasp Parasitoid wasps are a large group of hymenopteran superfamilies, with all but the wood wasps ( Orussoidea) being in the wasp-waisted Apocrita. As parasitoids, they lay their eggs on or in the bodies of other arthropods, sooner or later causi ...

s in the superfamily Chalcidoidea, known primarily from fossils (14 extinct species in two genera, '' Baeomorpha'' and '' Taimyromorpha'').Huber JT, Shih C, Dong R (2019) A new species of ''Baeomorpha'' (Hymenoptera, Rotoitidae) from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber. Journal of Hymenoptera Research 72: 1-10. https://doi.org/10.3897/jhr.72.35502 Only two extant species are known, each in its own genus, one from

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

and one from

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

, and little is known about their biology, though there is suspicion that they are parasitoids of the relictual true bug family Peloridiidae. Females of the Chilean species, '' Chiloe micropteron'', have their wings reduced to tiny bristles. Most fossil species are known from the Late Cretaceous (

Santonian The Santonian is an age in the geologic timescale or a chronostratigraphic stage. It is a subdivision of the Late Cretaceous Epoch or Upper Cretaceous Series. It spans the time between 86.3 ± 0.7 mya ( million years ago) and 83.6 ± 0.7 m ...

) Taimyr amber of Russia and Late Cretaceous (

Campanian The Campanian is the fifth of six ages of the Late Cretaceous epoch on the geologic timescale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). In chronostratigraphy, it is the fifth of six stages in the Upper Cretaceous Series. Campa ...

) Canadian amber, but one species, ''Baeomorpha liorum'' is known from the mid Cretaceous (late

Albian The Albian is both an age (geology), age of the geologic timescale and a stage (stratigraphy), stage in the stratigraphic column. It is the youngest or uppermost subdivision of the Early Cretaceous, Early/Lower Cretaceous epoch (geology), Epoch/s ...

-earliest

Cenomanian The Cenomanian is, in the International Commission on Stratigraphy's (ICS) geological timescale, the oldest or earliest age (geology), age of the Late Cretaceous epoch (geology), Epoch or the lowest stage (stratigraphy), stage of the Upper Cretace ...

)

Burmese amber Burmese amber, also known as Burmite or Kachin amber, is amber from the Hukawng Valley in northern Myanmar. The amber is dated to around 100 million years ago, during the latest Albian to earliest Cenomanian ages of the mid-Cretaceous period. Th ...

. Baeomorphids are very close to the base of the chalcidoid family tree, presently considered to be the first "branch" taxon after the Mymaridae.

References

Fauna of Chile Chalcidoidea Insects of South America Apocrita families {{Chalcidoidea-stub