Abstract
Braconid wasps (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) represent the second most diverse family of hymenopterans today. Despite their remarkable current diversity, their Cretaceous fossil record is sparse in comparison. Here, we describe Cantabriazyx perezdelafuentei and Aacute;lvarez-Parra and Jouault gen. et sp. nov. from the Lower Cretaceous (middle Albian) amber of El Soplao, in northern Iberian Peninsula. This new species shows similarities in wing venation with Stephanorhyssalus longiscapus Belokobylskij and Jouault, 2021 from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber. Both taxa share a combination of plesiomorphic and more derived characters, such as forewing with distinctly antefurcal condition of first recurrent vein (1m-cu) and presence of second recurrent vein (2m-cu), and hind wing with 2Cu. The presence of the second recurrent vein in the forewing is characteristic of Ichneumonidae, dagger Praeichneumonidae, and the braconid subfamily dagger Eoichneumoninae, while it is not common in other braconids. We compare the studied specimen with other Cretaceous Braconidae and with Apozyx penyai Mason, 1978 (Apozyginae), the only known extant braconid with a second recurrent vein. Furthermore, we discuss the characters of the braconid venation from an evolutionary standpoint. A checklist of all known braconids with second recurrent vein in forewing (including atavisms) is provided, together with an updated key for braconid genera possessing this vein. An illustration of ichneumonoid wing venations is included as a comparison framework.