Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Type: Article
Published: 2019-12-20
Page range: 657–664
Abstract views: 247
PDF downloaded: 2

Two new genera of insectivorous biting midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber

Department of Invertebrate Zoology and Parasitology, Faculty of Biology, University of Gdańsk, Wita Stwosza 59, 80-308 Gdańsk, Poland
Department of Invertebrate Zoology and Parasitology, Faculty of Biology, University of Gdańsk, Wita Stwosza 59, 80-308 Gdańsk, Poland
Institute of Systematics and Evolution of Animals, Polish Academy of Sciences, Sławkowska 17, 31-016, Kraków, Poland
Department of Invertebrate Zoology and Parasitology, Faculty of Biology, University of Gdańsk, Wita Stwosza 59, 80-308 Gdańsk, Poland
Diptera Ceratopogonidae new genera Burmahelea Nelohelea new species predator parasite

Abstract

Two new fossil genera and two new species of biting midges from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber are described and illustrated: Burmahelea neli Szadziewski & Sontag gen. et sp. nov. (Atriculicoidini) and Nelohelea neli Szadziewski & Sontag gen. et sp. nov. (Ceratopogonini). This is the oldest record (99 Ma) of a predatory biting midge in the extant tribe Ceratopogonini and the subfamily Ceratopogoninae.

References

  1. Boesel, M.W. (1937) Order Diptera, family Chironomidae, In: Carpenter, F.M., Folsom, J.W., Essig, E.O., Kinsey, A.C., Brues, C.T., Boesel, M.W. & Ewing, H.E. (Eds.), Insects and arachnids from Canadian amber. Geological Series, 40. The University Library, Toronto, pp. 44–55.

    Borkent, A. (1995) Biting midges in the Cretaceous amber of North America (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae). Backhuys Publishers, Leiden, 237 pp.

    Borkent, A. (2017) Ceratopogonidae (biting midges). In: Kirk-Spriggs, A.H. & Sinclair, B.J. (Eds.), Manual of Afrotropical Diptera, Vol. 2. Nematocerous Diptera and lower Brachycera. Suricata, 5. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria, pp. 733–812.

    Borkent, A. (2019) The phylogenetic relationships of Cretaceous biting midges, with a key to all known genera (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae). American Museum Novitates 3921, 1–48.

    https://doi.org/10.1206/3921.1

    Borkent, A. & Wirth, W.W. (1997) World species of biting midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 233, 1–257.

    http://hdl.handle.net/2246/1622

    Broly, P., Maillet, S. & Ross, A.J. (2015) The first terrestrial isopod (Crustacea: Isopoda: Oniscidea) from Cretaceous Burmese amber of Myanmar. Cretaceous Research, 55, 220–228.

    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2015.02.012

    Cruickshank, R.D. & Ko, K. (2003) Geology of an amber locality in the Hukawng Valley, northern Myanmar. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 21, 441–455.

    https://doi.org/10.1016/S1367-9120(02)00044-5

    Glukhova, V.M. (1981) A comparative morphological review of the mouth parts of the females and the males in the subfamilies Dasyheleinae and Forcipomyiinae (Diptera, Ceratopogonidae). Entomologicheskoe Obozrenie, 60, 62–76.

    Grimaldi, D.A. & Ross, A.J. (2017) Extraordinary Lagerstätten in amber, with particular reference to Cretaceous of Burma. In: Fraser, N. & Sues, H.-D. (Eds.), Terrestrial conservation Lagerstätten: windows into the evolution of life on land. Dunedin Academic Press, Edinburgh, pp. 287–342.

    Hay, W.W. & Floegel, S. (2012) New thoughts about the Cretaceous climate and oceans. Earth-Science Reviews, 115 (4), 262–272.

    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2012.09.008

    Heine, C., Müller, R. (2005) Late Jurassic rifting along the Australian North West Shelf: margin geometry and spreading ridge configuration. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences, 52, 27–39.

    https://doi.org/10.1080/08120090500100077

    Helm, O. (1892) On a new, fossil, amber-like resin occurring in Burma. Records of the Geological Survey of India, 25 (4), 180–181.

    Helm, O. (1893) Further note on Burmite, a new amber-like fossil resin from Upper Burma. Records of the Geological Survey of India, 26 (2), 61–64.

    Jiang, T., Szwedo, J. & Wang, B. (2018) A giant fossil Mimarachnidae planthopper from the mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber (Hemiptera, Fulgoromorpha). Cretaceous Research, 89, 183–190.

    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2018.03.020

    Jiang, T., Szwedo, J. & Wang, B. (2019) A unique camouflaged mimarachnid planthopper from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber. Scientific Reports, 9 (13112), 1–11+ 1–5.

    https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-49414-4

    Kania, I., Wang, B. & Szwedo, J. (2015) Dicranoptycha Osten Sacken, 1860 (Diptera, Limoniidae) from the earliest Cenomanian Burmese amber. Cretaceous Research, 52, 522–530.

    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2014.03.002

    Kieffer, J.J. (1906) Diptera. Fam. Chironomidae. In: Wytsman, P. (Ed.), Genera Insectorum, 42, 78 pp., 4 pls.

    Kieffer, J.J. (1921) Sur quelques Diptères piqueurs de la tribu des Ceratopogoninae. Archives de l’Institut Pasteur de l’Afrique du Nord, 1, 107–115.

    Laufer, B. (1907) Historical jottings on amber in Asia. Memoirs of the American Anthropological Association, 1 (3) [1905–1907], 211–244.

    Latreille, P.A. (1809) Genera crustaceorum et insectorum secundum ordinem naturalem in familias disposita, iconibus exemplisque plurimis explicata. Vol. 4. Parisiis et Argentorati, Amand Koenig, 399 pp., 4 pls.

    Lenz, F. (1934) 13a. Heleidae (Ceratopogonidae). In: Lindner, E. (Ed.), Die Fliegen der palaearktischen Region, 3 (Lfg. 78), 95–133.

    Linnaeus, C. (1758) Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata. Holmiæ, Laurentii Salvii, [4] + 824 pp.

    https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.542

    Mao, Y.Y., Liang, K., Su, Y.T., Li, J.G., Rao, X., Zhang, H., Xia, F.Y., Fu, Y.Z., Cai, C.Y. & Huang, D.Y. (2018) Various amberground marine animals in Burmese amber with discussions on its age. Palaeoentomology, 1 (1), 091–103.

    https://doi.org/10.11646/palaeoentomology.1.1.11

    McKeever, S., Hagan, D.V. & Grogan, W.L. (1991) Comparative study of mouthparts of ten species of predaceous midges of the tribe Ceratopogonini (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae). Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 84, 93–106.

    https://doi.org/10.1093/aesa/84.1.93

    Meigen, J.W. (1818) Systematische Beschreibung der bekannten europäischen zweiflügeligen Insekten. Vol. 1. Aachen: Friedrich Wilhelm Forstmann, xxxvi + 333 pp., pls. 1–11.

    https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.13731

    Metcalfe, I. (2013) Gondwana dispersion and Asian accretion: Tectonic and palaeogeographic evolution of eastern Tethys. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 66, 1–33.

    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jseaes.2012.12.020

    Newman, E. (1834) Attempted division of British insects into natural orders. Entomological Magazine 2, 379–431.

    Noetling, F. (1893) On the occurrence of Burmite, a new fossil resin from Upper Burma. Records of the Geological Survey of India, 26 (2), 31–40.

    Poinar, G., Lambert, J.B. & Wu, Y. (2007) Araucarian source of fossiliferous Burmese amber: spectroscopic and anatomical evidence. Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas, 1, 449–455.

    Rasnitsyn, A.P. & Öhm-Kühnle, C. (2018) Three new female Aptenoperissus from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber (Hymenoptera, Stephanoidea, Aptenoperissidae): Unexpected diversity of paradoxical wasps suggests insular features of source biome. Cretaceous Research, 91, 168–175.

    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2018.06.004

    Rasnitsyn, A.P., Bashkuev, A.S., Kopylov, D.S., Lukashevich, E.D., Ponomarenko, A.G., Popov, Yu. A., Rasnitsyn, D.A., Ryzhkova, O.V., Sidorchuk, E.A., Sukatsheva, I.D. & Vorontsov, D.D. (2016) Sequence and scale of changes in the terrestrial biota during the Cretaceous (based on materials from fossil resins). Cretaceous Research, 61, 234–255.

    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2015.12.025

    Remm, H. (1976) Pozdnemelovye mokretsy (Diptera, Ceratopogonidae) iskopaemykh smol Khatangskoï vpadiny. Paleontologicheskiï Zhurnal, 3, 107–116.

    Ross, A.J. (2019) Burmese (Myanmar) amber checklist and bibliography 2018. Palaeoentomology, 2 (1), 22–84.

    https://doi.org/10.11646/palaeoentomology.2.1.5

    Ross, A., Mellish, C., York, P. & Crighton, B. (2010) Chapter 12. Burmese Amber. In: Penney, D. (Ed.), Biodiversity of fossils in amber from the major world deposits. Siri Scientific Press, Manchester, pp. 208–235.

    Seton, M., Müller, R.D., Zahirovic, S., Gaina, C., Torsvik, T., Shephard, G., Talsma, A., Gurnis, M., Turner, M., Maus, S. & Chandler, M. (2012) Global continental and ocean basin reconstructions since 200 Ma. Earth-Science Reviews, 113, 212–270.

    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2012.03.002

    Shi, G., Grimaldi, D.A., Harlow, G.E., Wang, J., Wang, J., Yang, M., Lei, W., Li, Q. & Li, X. (2012) Age constraint on Burmese amber based on U-Pb dating of zircons. Cretaceous Research, 37, 155–163.

    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2012.03.014

    Skuse, F.A.A. (1889) Diptera of Australia. Part VI. - The Chironomidae. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 4, 215–311.

    https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.part.15067

    Smith, R.D.A. & Ross, A.J. (2018) Amberground pholadid bivalve borings and inclusions in Burmese amber: implications for proximity of resin-producing forests to brackish waters, and the age of the amber. Earth and Environmental Science Transaction of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 107, 239–247.

    https://doi.org/10.1017/S1755691017000287

    So, J.F. (2013) Scented trails: amber as aromatic in medieval China. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 23, 85–101.

    https://doi.org/10.1017/S1356186313000023

    Szadziewski, R. (1988) Biting midges (Diptera, Ceratopogonidae) from Baltic amber. Polskie Pismo Entomologiczne, 58, 3–283.

    Szadziewski, R. (1996) Biting midges from Lower Cretaceous amber of Lebanon and Upper Cretaceous Siberian amber of Taimyr (Diptera, Ceratopogonidae). Studia Dipterologica, 3, 23–86.

    Szadziewski, R. (2018) Biting midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) as indicators of biostratigraphy, ecological reconstructions and identification of amber deposits. 2018. Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 107, 219–230.
    https://doi.org/10.1017/S1755691017000378

    Szadziewski, R., Arillo, A., Urbanek, A. & Sontag, E. (2016) Biting midges of the extinct genus Protoculicoides Boesel from Lower Cretaceous amber of San Just, Spain and new synonymy in recently described fossil genera (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae). Cretaceous Research, 58, 1–9.

    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2015.09.016

    Szadziewski, R., Dominiak, P. & Tothová, A. (2007) European Atrichopogon biting midges of the subgenus Meloehelea (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae). Polish Journal of Entomology, 76, 267–284.

    Szadziewski R., Giłka, W. & Urbanek, A. (2015) A blood sucking biting midge from Upper Cretaceous Burmese amber with a key to the determination of fossil species in the relictual genus Leptoconops Skuse (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae). Cretaceous Research, 54: 255–259.

    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2014.12.013

    Szadziewski, R., Dominiak, P., Sontag, E., Krzemiński, W., Wang, B. & Szwedo, J. (2019) Haematophagous biting midges of the extant genus Culicoides Latreille (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae), evolved during the mid-Cretaceous. Zootaxa, 4688 (4), 535–548.

    https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4688.4.5

    Szwedo, J. & Nel, A. (2015) The Cretaceous insects: a promising state of the art. Cretaceous Research, 52, 628–630.

    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2014.07.008

    Thu, K. & Zaw, K. (2017) Gem deposits of Myanmar, In: Barber, A.J., Zaw, K. & Crow, M.J. (Eds.), Myanmar: Geology, Resources and Tectonics. Geological Society of London, Memoirs, 48, 497–529.

    https://doi.org/10.1144/M48.23

    Westerweel, J., Roperch, P., Licht, A., Dupont-Nivet, G., Win, Z., Poblete, F., Ruffet, G., Swe, H.H., Thi, M.K. & Aung, D.W. (2019) Burma Terrane part of the Trans-Tethyan arc during collision with India according to palaeomagnetic data. Nature Geoscience, 12, 863–868.

    https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-019-0443-2

    Wirth, W.W. & Grogan, W.L. (1988) The predaceous midges of the world (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae; tribe Ceratopogonini). Flora and Fauna Handbook, Vol. 4, Brill, Leiden, 160 pp.

    Wirth, W.W. & Lee, D.J. (1958) Australasian Ceratopogonidae (Diptera, Nematocera). Part VIII: A new genus from Western Australia attacking man. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 83, 337–339.

    Xing, L.D., Sames, B., McKellar, R.C., Xi, D.-P., Bai, M. & Wan, X.Q. (2018a) A gigantic marine ostracod (Crustacea: Myodocopa) trapped in mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber. Scientific Reports, 8 (1365), 1–9.

    https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-19877-y

    Xing, L.D., Caldwell, M.W., Chen, R., Nydam, R.L., Palci, A., Simões, T.R., McKellar, R.C., Lee, M.S.Y., Liu, Y., Shi, H.L., Wang, K. & Bai, M. (2018b) A mid-Cretaceous embryonic-to-neonate snake in amber from Myanmar. Science Advances, 4 (5042), 1–8.

    https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aat5042

    Yu, T.T., Kelly, R., Mu, L., Ross, A., Kennedy, J., Broly, P., Xia, F.Y., Zhang, H.C., Wang, B., & Dilcher, D. (2019) An ammonite trapped in Burmese amber. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116 (23), 11345–11350.

    https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1821292116

    Zheng, D.R., Nel, A., Chang, S.C., Jarzembowski, E.A., Zhang, H.C. & Wang, B. (2018) A well-preserved true dragonfly (Anisoptera: Gomphides: Burmagomphidae fam. nov.) from Cretaceous Burmese amber. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology, 16 (10), 881–889.t

    https://doi.org/10.1080/14772019.2017.136510