TRIASSIC OF CENTRAL ASIA AND THE EARLY EVOLUTION OF Hymenoptera: OLD DISCOVERIES AND NEW OPPORTUNITIES

Abstract

Hymenoptera (Hymenoptera) is one of the largest orders of insects, numbering more than 150,000 species in the modern fauna. Molecular dating methods indicate that diversification of the order must have begun in the Late Paleozoic–Middle Triassic, 329–239 million years ago. However, paleontological evidence of the existence of Hymenoptera in the Paleozoic has not yet been found, and the oldest finds come from the Middle Triassic deposits of Switzerland.