Cuspilongus

The genus Cuspilongus was described by paleoentomologists S. Bruce Archibald from Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia and Alexandr Rasnitsyn of the A. A. Borissiak Paleontological Institute, who published the 2015 genus description in the journal Canadian Entomologist. The genus name Cuspilongus was coined by Archibald and Rasnitsyn as a combination of the Latin words cuspis which means "lance" and longus meaning long, in reference to the notable length of the type species ovipositor. The specific epithet cachecreekensis was chosen in honor of the town of Cache Creek, British Columbia, west of the type locality for the type species. In the type description for Cuspilongus, Archibald and Rasnitsyn opted to include it in the living Cephidae subfamily Cephinae based on the darkened intercostal wing area and the downward curved to the ovipositor sheath. Based on the two species, Kopylov and Rasnitsyn moved Cuspilongus to a new monotypic subfamily Cuspilonginae which they based on the ovipositor being nearly as long as the forewing, with a curved robust sabre-shape. Living members of the family have ovipositors that are only up to half the length of the forewing. ==Distribution==

Cuspilongus cachecreekensis was recovered from outcrops of the early Eocene, Ypresian McAbee Fossil Beds near Cache Creek, British Columbia, which is part of the Eocene Okanagan Highlands running from Central British Columbia southeastward to northeast central Washington state. Khurilt Member dated to be Aptian. ==Paleoecology==

The unnamed formation outcropping at the McAbee Fossil Beds preserve an upland temperate flora that was first interpreted as being Microthermal, although further study has shown them to be more mesothermal in nature. The plant community preserved in the McAbee Fossil Beds site is mostly broadleaf pollen with alder and elm dominating, and may represent a successional forest involving multiple volcanic ash eruptions. The broader Eocene Okanagan Highlands likely had a mesic upper microthermal to lower mesothermal climate, in which winter temperatures rarely dropped low enough for snow, and which were seasonably equitable. ==Description==

C. cachecreekensis The single described female of C. cachecreekensis is mostly complete, missing the legs entirely, with the antennae preserved in disarticulated segments, and portions of the abdomen are obscured. The female has a body length of approximately and an overall preserved length of with the ovipositor included. The head and thorax are dark in coloration, while the abdomen is light colored in the preserved and visible areas. Similarly the wings are lightly colored to hyaline, with the exception of the intercostal space, which is notably darkened. The abdomen is damaged but the ovipositor is preserved well, being about long with part of the sheath preserved, with both the ovipositor and sheath showing a downward curve. C. ghilarovi The C. ghilarovi is also a partially complete female, missing the head and most of the hindwings, while the abdomen and legs are damaged. Due to the missing head and damage to the abdomen a total body length of was not given, but the overall size is noted to be smaller than C. cachecreekensis The body and legs are dark in coloration. Similarly the wings are lightly colored to hyaline, with the exception of the intercostal space, which is notably darkened. The ovipositor is about long and wide at its thickest. The 1r-rs and 2r-rs crossveins of the forewing are located slightly more apicially than those of C. cachecreekensis. ==References==