Abstract The first Mesozoic and currently oldest fossil of the wasp family Pompilidae (Aculeata: Euaculeata: Vespoidea) is described and figured from a female preserved in mid-Cretaceous (Albian) amber from Myanmar (Burma). Bryopompilus interfector, new genus and species, is distinguished from other fossil and living spider wasps and placed in the new tribe Bryopompilini. The sparse geological record of spider wasps is briefly reviewed and the current classification of the family outlined, with the spelling of three family-group names corrected—Cordyloscelidini, Eidopompilini, and Deuterageniini.