Eriocampa tulameenensis
Eriocampa tulameenensis is an extinct sawfly from the Eocene period, found in what is now British Columbia, Canada. It lived about 49 million years ago in lake deposits near Princeton, in the Similkameen region.
Only one fossil, the holotype GSC 22688, is known for this species. It is a mostly complete adult preserved as a compression fossil in fine shale along the Canadian Pacific rail line. The specimen is kept at the Geological Survey of Canada in Ottawa. The fossil was described in 1968 by M. A. Rice. The name tulameenensis comes from the Tulameen River nearby, a name that derives from the Nlaka'pamux language meaning “red earth.”
Eriocampa tulameenensis is the largest Eriocampa described in the original study, but parts of the body are missing, so measurements are limited. The researchers tentatively placed it in Eriocampa based on similarities in the forewing to other members of the genus.
From what is visible, the head, part of the thorax, and the rear abdomen are dark brown to black; the antennae are filiform (thread-like) and brown, with some central abdominal segments appearing pale. The wings are clear (hyaline) with dark brown to dark amber veins. Some legs and parts of the antennae are missing.
Eriocampa tulameenensis differs from species in the related genus Pseudosiobla (such as P. campbelli from nearby Horsefly, BC) because it is smaller and has a different forewing vein pattern.
There are six other fossil Eriocampa species: E. bruesi, E. celata, E. pristina, E. scudderi, E. synthetica, and E. wheeleri. All of these are known from the Florissant Formation in Colorado, about 39 million years old—much younger than the Princeton fossil. Among the seven species, E. tulameenensis is the largest.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 06:28 (CET).