First fossil record of cerocephaline wasps with a description of a new genus and species from Dominican amber (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea: Pteromalidae: Cerocephalinae)

Dominocephala vibrissae gen. et sp. nov. is described from lower Miocene to mid-Oligocene Dominican amber. The new species represents the first fossil record of the pteromalid subfamily Cerocephalinae within the megadiverse parasitoid superfamily Chalcidoidea (Hymenoptera). Selected morphological characters of the new species are discussed from a phylogenetic perspective with reference to extant cerocephaline taxa. An updated key to the genera of world Cerocephalinae is presented. D. vibrissae was trapped in resin with a number of other insects, including six specimens of ambrosia beetles (Coleoptera: Platypodidae), which represent a possible host species of the new species. The fossil provides a minimum age of 23–30 Ma for the subfamily Cerocephalinae and for a potential host switch within Chalcidoidea to endophytic (wood-, cone- or seed-boring) beetles.