A new species of Pimplinae (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) from the Oligocene of Huatugou area, Qaidam Basin, Tibetan Plateau, China

A new species Theronia qaidamensis sp. nov. (Ichneumonidae, Pimplinae) is described from the Oligocene Shangganchaigou Formation of the northwestern Qaidam Basin (Huatugou area), northeast of the Tibetan Plateau (TP). The new species represents the first report of the Ichneumonidae from the Qaidam Basin, which reveals an insect linkage between the Qaidam Basin and Europe. In addition, the study of associated fossils from the Shangganchaigou Formation shows that the palaeoenvironment of the northwestern Qaidam Basin during the Oligocene was warm and moist, which provided suitable living conditions for the current fossil.