Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Responsive image
Issue: Vol. 7 No. 2: April 2024
Type: Article
Published: 2024-04-19
DOI: 10.11646/palaeoentomology.7.2.14
Page range: 299-305
Abstract views: 8
PDF downloaded: 0

Phimophorus chiodii sp. nov., first representative of a cryptic assassin bug subfamily from Dominican amber (Reduviidae: Phimophorinae) as revealed with traditional light microscopy and computed micro-tomographic reconstruction

Institut de Systématique, Évolution, Biodiversité (ISYEB) Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, EPHE, Université des Antilles, 75005 Paris, France
Institut de Systématique, Évolution, Biodiversité (ISYEB) Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, EPHE, Université des Antilles, 75005 Paris, France; Paris-Cité University, Life Sciences Department, 5, rue Thomas Mann, F-75013 Paris, France
Institut de Systématique, Évolution, Biodiversité (ISYEB) Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, EPHE, Université des Antilles, 75005 Paris, France
Institut de Systématique, Évolution, Biodiversité (ISYEB) Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, EPHE, Université des Antilles, 75005 Paris, France; Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, 200 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024, USA; Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, Perú; Departamento de Entomología, Museo de Historia Natural, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Avenida Antonio Álvarez de Arenales 1256 Jesús María, Lima 14, Perú
Institut de Systématique, Évolution, Biodiversité (ISYEB) Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, EPHE, Université des Antilles, 75005 Paris, France
Institut de Systématique, Évolution, Biodiversité (ISYEB) Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, EPHE, Université des Antilles, 75005 Paris, France
Insecta Heteroptera Miocene Fossil record Taxonomy Reduviidae Phimophorinae

Abstract

The second fossil assassin bug of the cryptic subfamily Phimophorinae is described and figured from the mid-Miocene amber of the Dominican Republic, on the basis of traditional optical observations and a computed micro-tomography 3D reconstruction. The fossil can be attributed to the extant, monotypic genus Phimophorus Bergroth, which is currently known only from northern South America. The fossil extends the distribution of the lineage into the Caribbean of the Early Neogene and places it among a series of examples of arthropod groups that once thrived in Hispaniola but are today not native to the islands.

References

  1. Bergroth, E. (1886) Zur Kenntniss der Aradiden. Verhandelingen Zoologisch-Botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien, 36, 53–60. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.part.29327
  2. Boudinot, B.E., Probst, R.S., Brandão, C.R.F., Feitosa, R.M. & Ward, P.S. (2016) Out of the Neotropics: newly discovered relictual species sheds light on the biogeographical history of spider ants (Leptomyrmex, Dolichoderinae, Formicidae). Systematic Entomology, 41 (3), 658–671. https://doi.org/10.1111/syen.12181
  3. Bourgoin, T., Wang, R.R., Szwedo, J., Li, X.Y. & Chen, X. (2019) A new early Miocene fossil genus from Dominican amber extends the Eastern Asia distribution of Paricanini (Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha: Tropiduchidae) to the Neotropics. Palaeontologia Electronica, 22.3.77, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.26879/958
  4. Chaverra-Rodríguez, D., Forero, D., Jaramillo Ocampo, N. & Triana Chavez, O. (2010) New record and ecological notes of Phimophorus spissicornis (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Reduviidae: Phimophorinae) in Colombia. Revista Colombiana de Entomología, 36 (1), 176–178. https://doi.org/10.25100/socolen.v36i1.9139
  5. Engel, M.S. (1995) Neocorynura electra, a new fossil bee species from Dominican amber (Hymenoptera: Halictidae). Journal of the New York Entomological Society, 103 (3), 317–323.
  6. Engel, M.S. (1999a) The first fossil Euglossa and phylogeny of the orchid bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae; Euglossini). American Museum Novitates, 3272, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1206/0003-0082(2000)3296<0001:ANIOTO>2.0.CO;2
  7. Engel, M.S. (1999b) A new xeromelissine bee in Tertiary amber of the Dominican Republic (Hymenoptera: Colletidae). Entomologica Scandinavica, 30 (4), 453–458. https://doi.org/10.1163/187631200X00561
  8. Engel, M.S. (2009) A new termite bug in Miocene amber from the Dominican Republic (Hemiptera, Termitaphididae). ZooKeys, 25, 61–68. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.25.267
  9. Engel, M.S. & Michener, C.D. (2013) Geological history of the stingless bees (Apidae: Meliponini). In: Vit, P. & Roubik, D.W. (Eds), Stingless bees process honey and pollen in cerumen pots. Universidad de Los Andes, Mérida, pp. 1–7.
  10. Engel, M.S., Grimaldi, D.A., Gonzalez, V.H., Hinojosa-Diaz, I.A. & Michener, C.D. (2012) An exomalopsine bee in Early Miocene amber from the Dominican Republic (Hymenoptera: Apidae). American Museum Novitates, 3758, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1206/3758.2
  11. Grimaldi, D.A. (1991) Mycetobiine woodgnats (Diptera: Anisopodidae) from the Oligo-Miocene amber of the Dominican Republic, and Old World affinities. American Museum Novitates, 3014, 1–24. http://hdl.handle.net/2246/5052
  12. Grimaldi, D.A. (1995) The age of Dominican amber. In: Anderson K.B. & Crelling J.C. (Eds), Amber, resinites, and fossil resins. American Chemical Society Symposium, Washington, DC, pp. 203–217. https://doi.org/10.1021/bk-1995-0617.ch011
  13. Grimaldi, D.A. & Engel, M.S. (2008) A termite bug in Early Miocene amber of the Dominican Republic (Hemiptera: Termitaphididae). American Museum Novitates, 3619, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1206/610.1
  14. Handlirsch, A. (1897) Über Phimophorus spissicornis Bergroth. Ein hemipterologischer Beitrag. Verhandlungen Zoologisch-Botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien, 47, 408–410.
  15. Hedges, S.B. (1996) Vicariance and dispersal in Caribbean biogeography. Herpetologica, 52, 466–473. https://www. jstor.org/stable/3892665
  16. Hedges, S.B. (2006) Paleogeography of the Antilles and origin of West Indian terrestrial vertebrates. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, 93 (2), 231–244. https://doi.org/10.3417/0026-6493(2006)93[231:POTAAO]2.0.CO;2
  17. Hwang, W.S. & Weirauch, C. (2012) Evolutionary history of assassin bugs (Insecta: Hemiptera: Reduviidae): insights from divergence dating and ancestral state reconstruction. Plos One, 7 (9), (e45523) 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0045523
  18. Iturralde-Vinent, M. A. (2001) Geology of the amber-bearing deposits of the Greater Antilles. Caribbean Journal of Science, 37, 141–167.
  19. Ituralde-Vinent, M.A. & MacPhee, R.D.E. (1996) Age and paleogeographic origin of Dominican amber. Science, 273 (5283), 1850–1852. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.273.5283.1850
  20. Ituralde-Vinent, M.A. & MacPhee, R.D.E. (1999) Paleogeography of the Caribbean region: implications for Cenozoic biogeography. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 238, 1–95. http://hdl.handle.net/2246/1642
  21. Krishna, K. & Grimaldi, D. (1991) A new fossil species from Dominican amber of the living Australian termite genus Mastotermes (Isoptera: Mastotermitidae). American Museum Novitates, 3021, 1–10. http://hdl.handle.net/2246/5046
  22. Latreille, P.A. (1807) Genera crustaceorum et insectorum, secundum ordinem naturalem et familias disposita, tomus tertius. Argentorati, Parisiis, 1–258. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.65741
  23. Latreille, P.A. (1810) Histoire naturelle, générale et particulière des Crustacés et des Insectes. Ouvrage faisant suite aux œuvres de Leclerc de Buffon et partie du cours complet d’Histoire naturelle rédigé par C.S. Sonnini. T. 13, an XIII. Familles naturelles et genres. Dufart, Paris, 1–432.
  24. Limaye, A. (2012) Drishti: a volume exploration and presentation tool. In: Proceedings SPIE 8506, Developments in X-Ray Tomography VIII, 85060X. https://doi.org/10.1117/12.935640
  25. Lent, H. & Wygodzinsky, P.W. (1979) Revision of the Triatominae (Hemiptera, Reduviidae), and their significance as vectors of Chagas disease. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 163, 123–520. http://hdl.handle.net/2246/1282
  26. Leston, D., Pendergrast, J.G. & Southwood, T.R.E. (1954) Classification of the terrestrial Heteroptera (Geocorisae). Nature, 174, 91–94. https://doi.org/10.1038/174091b0
  27. MacPhee, R.D.E., Ford, D.C. & MacFarlane, D.A. (1989) Pre-Wisconsinan mammals from Jamaica and models of Late Quaternary extinctions in the Greater Antilles. Quaternary Research, 31, 94–106. https://doi.org/10.1016/0033-5894(89)90088-4
  28. Maldonado-Capriles, C. (1990) Systematic catalogue of the Reduviidae of the World. Caribbean Journal of Science, (Special publication 1), 1–694.
  29. Penney D. (2010) Dominican amber. In: Penney D. (Ed.), Biodiversity of fossils in amber from the major world deposits. Siri Scientific Press, Manchester, pp. 22–41.
  30. Pregill, G. & Olsen, S.L. (1981) Zoogeography of West Indian vertebrates in relation to Pleistocene climatic cycles. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 12, 75–98. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.es.12.110181.000451
  31. Rosen, D. E. (1975) A vicariance model of Caribbean biogeography. Systematic Zoology, 24, 431– 464. https://doi.org/10.2307/2412905
  32. Rosen, D. E. (1985) Geological hierarchies and biogeographic congruence in the Caribbean. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, 72, 636–659. https://doi.org/10.2307/2399218
  33. Schlee D. (1990) Das Bernstein-Kabinett. Stuttgarter Beiträge zur Naturkunde (C), 28, 1–100.
  34. Schuh, R.T. & Weirauch, C. (2020) True bugs of the World (Hemiptera: Heteroptera): classification and natural history [Second Edition]. Siri Scientific Press, Manchester, 800 pp.
  35. Stach, P., Natkaniec-Nowak, L., Wagner, M., Dumańska-Słowik, M., Mroczkowska-Szerszeń, M., Wesełucha-Birczyńska, A., Drzewicz, P., George, C. & Garcia, E. (2020) A study on the formation environment of the La Cumbre amber deposit, from Santiago Province, the Northwestern Part of the Dominican Republic. Minerals, 10 (9), 736, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.3390/min10090736
  36. Stach, P., Natkaniec-Nowak, L., Dumańska-Słowik, M., Kosakowski, P., Naglik, B., Drzewicz, P., Misiak, J., Pršek, J., George, C. & Ramírez Gómez, R.E. (2021) The study of Dominican amber-bearing sediments from Siete Cañadas and La Cumbre with a discussion on their origin. Scientific Reports, 11 (18556), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-96520-3
  37. Tong, Y.F., Binford, G., Rheims, C.A., Kuntner, M., Liu, J. & Agnarsson, I. (2019) Huntsmen of the Caribbean: Multiple tests of the GAARlandia hypothesis. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 130, 259–268. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2018.09.017
  38. Usinger, R.L. & Wygodzinsky, P. (1964) Description of a new species of Mandanocoris Miller, with notes on the systematic position of the genus (Reduviidae, Hemiptera, Insect). American Museum Novitates, 2204, 1–13.
  39. Viñola-López, L.W., Bloch, J.I., Milán, J.N.A. & LeFebvre, M.J. (2022) Endemic rodents of Hispaniola: biogeography and extinction timing during the Holocene. Quaternary Science Reviews, 297, 107828. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2022.107828
  40. Weirauch, C. (2008) Cladistic analysis of Reduviidae (Heteroptera: Cimicomorpha) based on morphological characters. Systematic Entomology, 33 (2), 229–274. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3113.2007.00417.x
  41. Weirauch, C. & Munro, J.B. (2009) Molecular phylogeny of the assassin bugs (Hemiptera: Reduviidae), based on mitochondrial and nuclear ribosomal genes. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 53, 287–299. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2009.05.039
  42. Weirauch, C., Bérenger, J.-M., Berniker, L., Forero, D., Forthman, M., Frankenberg, S., Freedman, A., Gordon, E., Hoey-Chamberlain, R., Hwang, W.S., Marshall, S.A., Michael, A., Paiero, S.M., Udah, O., Watson, C., Yeo, M., Zhang, G. & Zhang, J. (2014) An illustrated identification key to assassin bug subfamilies and tribes. Canadian Journal of Arthropod Identification, 26, 1–115. https://doi.org/10.3752/cjai.2014.26
  43. Zhang J.X., Weirauch, C., Zhang, G.Y. & Forero D. (2015) Molecular phylogeny of Harpactorinae and Bactrodinae uncovers complex evolution of sticky trap predation in assassin bugs (Heteroptera: Reduviidae). Cladistics, 32, 538–554. https://doi.org/10.1111/cla.12140