Teisseirei barattinia Roselli, 1939

Teisseirei barattinia is an ichnotaxon (trace fossil) that was initially considered to be the work of Hymenoptera (Roselli, 1939) but Roselli (1987) later placed it in Coleoptera, Scarabaeoidea. Genise (2004) tentatively considered T. barattinia to represent a coleopteran pupation chamber but Farina, Verde & Genise (2010) suggested it might be a sphingid pupation chamber. Following comparison with the pupation chambers of four extant species of Sphingidae (Manduca diffissa, M. rustica, Eumorpha analis and E. labruscae), Genise, Farina & Verde (2013) concurred that Teisseirei barattinia ichnofossils represent the pupation chambers of sphinx moths. However, this taxonomic placement must be considered provisional as Genise, Farina & Verde (2013) did not consider or exclude the possibility that the fossils might be the work of other large Lepidoptera, such as Saturniidae (particularly subfamilies Arsenurinae and Ceratocampinae) and Erebidae, which have similar sized larvae to the Sphingidae studied and which also pupate in chambers below ground.