Two ephialtitid wasps (Insecta, Hymenoptera, Ephialtitoidea) from the Yixian Formation of western Liaoning, China

Two wasps belonging to the family Ephialtitidae from the Yixian Formation of western Liaoning, China, are described and illustrated as Crephanogaster rara sp. nov. and Tuphephialtites zherikhini gen. et sp. nov. That ephialtitids occupy a very small proportion of the hymenopteran assemblage in western Liaoning suggests the age of the Yixian Formation to be Early Cretaceous or, possibly, as old as latest Jurassic. This is the first record of Ephialtitidae from the upper Mesozoic of China.