Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Responsive image
Issue: Vol. 8 No. 4: (In progress) August 2025
Type: Article
Published: 2025-08-29
DOI: 10.11646/palaeoentomology.8.4.4
Page range: 363-369
Abstract views: 301
PDF downloaded: 8

Earwigs from the late Oligocene crater lake of Enspel, Germany (Dermaptera)

Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, 200 Central Park West, New York, New York 10024, U.S.A.
Generaldirektion Kulturelles Erbe RLP, Direktion Landesarchäologie/Erdgeschichtliche Denkmalpflege, Niederberger Höhe 1, Koblenz, Germany
Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt, Department of Natural History, Friedensplatz 1, 64283 Darmstadt, Germany; Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms Universität Bonn, Bonner Institut für Organismische Biologie: Abteilung Paläontologie, Nußallee 8, 53115 Bonn, Germany
Institut de Systématique, Évolution, Biodiversité (ISYEB) Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, EPHE, Université des Antilles, CP50, 57 rue Cuvier 75005, Paris, France
Institut de Systématique, Évolution, Biodiversité (ISYEB) Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, EPHE, Université des Antilles, CP50, 57 rue Cuvier 75005, Paris, France
Anisolabididae Chattian Chelisochidae Neodermaptera taxonomy Dermaptera

Abstract

The Konservat-Lagerstätte of Enspel, Germany preserves an exceptional late Oligocene biota, with abundant remains of insects. Here we provide the first formal descriptions of earwigs from the crater lake of Enspel, all adults and comprising two distinct species. Kraterlabis primordialis gen. et sp. nov. is a possible anisolabidid and is a wholly apterous, including complete absence of tegmina, and is distinguished by the form of the thoracic nota and the distinctive pygidium and cercal forceps. The holotype of Adiathetodes nassauensis gen. et sp. nov., unlike K. primordialis, is heavily pyritized but with lots of character information discernible. The species is likely a chelisochid as indicated by the form of the second tarsomere that projects strongly ventral to the third and with the third nearly as long as the first tarsomere. The genus is distinguished in the form of the pygidium and cercal forceps, as well as the thorax.

References

  1. Barden, H.E., Bermann, U., Edwards, N.P., Egerton, V.M., Manning, P.L., Perry, S., van Veelen, A., Wogelius, R.A. & van Dongen, B.E. (2015) Bacteria or melanosomes? A geochemical analysis of micro-bodies on a tadpole from the Oligocene Enspel Formation of Germany. Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments, 95 (1), 33–45. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12549-014-0177-5
  2. Chatzimanolis, S. & Engel, M.S. (2010) Laasbium Scudder: A genus of Tertiary earwigs, not rove beetles, and the classification of Florissant fossil Dermaptera (Insecta). Annales Zoologici, 60, 101–108. https://doi.org/10.3161/000345410X499588
  3. Engel, M.S. (2003) The earwigs of Kansas, with a key to genera north of Mexico (Insecta: Dermaptera). Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science, 106, 115–123. https://doi.org/10.1660/0022-8443(2003)106[0115:TEOKWA]2.0.CO;2
  4. Engel, M.S. (2011) New earwigs in mid-Cretaceous amber from Myanmar (Dermaptera, Neodermaptera). ZooKeys, 130, 137–152. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.130.1293
  5. Engel, M.S. (2016) The earwig genus Paralabella Steinmann in amber from the Dominican Republic, with remarks on the classification of Burr’s Eocene Dermaptera. Entomologist’s Monthly Magazine, 152, 121–130.
  6. Engel, M.S. (2017) The first fossil occurrence of the earwig subfamily Geracinae (Dermaptera). Entomologist’s Monthly Magazine, 153, 31–43.
  7. Engel, M.S. (2019) A new species of spongiphorine earwig in Miocene amber from the Dominican Republic (Dermaptera: Spongiphoridae). Palaeoentomology, 2 (6), 560–565. https://doi.org/10.11646/palaeoentomology.2.6.3
  8. Engel, M.S. & Grimaldi, D.A. (2004) A primitive earwig in Cretaceous amber from Myanmar (Dermaptera: Pygidicranidae). Journal of Paleontology, 78, 1018–1023. https://doi.org/10.1666/0022-3360(2004)078<1018:APEICA>2.0.CO;2
  9. Engel, M.S. & Grimaldi, D.A. (2014) New mid-Cretaceous earwigs in amber from Myanmar (Dermaptera). Novitates Paleoentomologicae, 6, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.17161/np.v0i6.4676
  10. Engel, M.S., Huang, D.Y., Thomas, J.C. & Cai, C.Y. (2017) A new genus and species of pygidicranid earwigs from the Upper Cretaceous of southern Asia (Dermaptera: Pygidicranidae). Cretaceous Research, 69, 178–183. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2016.09.009
  11. Engel, M.S. & Haas, F. (2007) Family-group names for earwigs (Dermaptera). American Museum Novitates, 3567, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1206/0003-0082(2007)539[1:FNFED]2.0.CO;2
  12. Engesser, B. & Storch, G. (1999) Eomyiden (Mammalia, Rodentia) aus dem Oberoligozän von Enspel im Westerwald (Westdeutschland). Eclogae Geologicae Helvetiae, 92, 483–493.
  13. Estrada-Álvarez, J.C., Núñez-Bazán, R., Mata-González, J.A. & Vega, F.J. (2023) New taxa of earwigs (Dermaptera: Spongiphoridae: Spongiphorinae) in Lower Miocene amber from Simojovel, Chiapas, Mexico. Boletín de la Sociedad Geológica Mexicana, 75, A240223. https://doi.org/10.18268/BSGM2023v75n2a240223
  14. Giles, E.T. (1963) The comparative external morphology and affinities of the Dermaptera. Transactions of the Royal Entomological Society of London, 115, 95–164. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2311.1963.tb00816.x
  15. Grimaldi, D. & Engel, M.S. (2005) Evolution of the insects. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, xv + 755 pp.
  16. Illing, C.J., Hallmann, C., Scott, A.C., Collinson, M.E., Briggs, D.E.G., Strauss, H. & Summons, R.E. (2019) Heterogeneity of free and occluded bitumen in a natural maturity sequence from Oligocene lake Enspel. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 245, 240–265. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2018.10.021
  17. Mao, Y., Engel, M.S., Ren, D. & Gao, T.P. (2020a) A new species of Astreptolabis in mid-Cretaceous amber from northern Myanmar, with the discovery of the first male of Astreptolabidinae (Dermaptera). ZooKeys, 911, 101–112. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.911.38845
  18. Mao, Y., Engel, M.S., Zhao, Y. & Ren, D. (2020b) A new genus of labidurid earwigs in mid-Cretaceous amber from northern Myanmar (Dermaptera: Labiduridae). Cretaceous Research, 111, 104447. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2020.104447
  19. Mertz, D.F., Renne, P.R., Wuttke, M. & Mödden, C. (2007) A numerically calibrated reference level (MP28) for the terrestrial mammal-based biozonation of the European Upper Oligocene. International Journal of Earth Sciences (Geologische Rundschau), 96, 353–361. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-006-0094-6
  20. Nel, A., Waller, A., Albouy, V., Menier, J.-J. & de Plöeg, G. (2003) New fossil earwigs from the lowermost Eocene amber of Paris basin (France) (Insecta, Dermaptera, family incertae sedis). Geodiversitas, 25, 119–129.
  21. Peng, A.C., Engel, M.S., Zhuang, Y., Wu, Z., Feng, C. & Liu, Y. (2022) A new genus of striped earwigs allied to Zigrasolabis in mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber (Dermaptera: Labiduridae). Cretaceous Research, 139, 105305. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2022.105305
  22. Peng, A.C., Engel, M.S., Liu, Y. & Nel, A. (2024a) A new lineage of pygidicranid earwigs from mid-Cretaceous amber of northern Myanmar (Dermaptera: Pygidicranidae). Cretaceous Research, 158, 105849. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2024.105849
  23. Peng, A.C., Engel, M.S., Boderau, M., Zhou D. & Nel, A. (2024b) The earliest haplodiplatyid earwig, represented by a new genus from mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber (Dermaptera: Haplodiplatyidae). Annales de la Société Entomologique de France, 60, 453–460. https://doi.org/10.1080/00379271.2024.2365382
  24. Peng, A.C., Engel, M.S., Zhou, D. & Nel, A. (2025) A new labiduroid earwig from mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber (Dermaptera: Labiduroidea). Cretaceous Research, 166, 105994. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2024.105994
  25. Ren, M., Zhang, W., Shih, C. & Ren, D. (2017) A new earwig (Dermaptera: Pygidicranidae) from the Upper Cretaceous Myanmar amber. Cretaceous Research, 74, 137–141. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2017.02.012
  26. Schäfer, P., Schindler, T., Hottenrott, M. & Wuttke, M. (2011) Westerwald. In: Deutsche Stratigraphische Kommission (Eds), Stratigraphie von Deutschland IX. Tertiär, Teil 1. Schriftenreihe der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Geowissenschaften, 75, 355–375. https://doi.org/10.1127/sdgg/75/2011/355
  27. Schindler, T. & Wuttke, M. (2015) A revised sedimentological model for the late Oligocene crater lake Enspel (Enspel Formation, Westerwald Mountains, Germany). Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments, 95, 5–16. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12549-014-0178-4
  28. Simonsen, T.J., Sylvestersen, R.L., Olsen, K. & Rasmussen, J.A. (2024) Apachyus madseni (Dermaptera: Apachyidae) sp. nov. from the Ypresian Fur Formation of Denmark: the first fossil record of the enigmatic earwig family Apachyidae. Palaeoentomology, 7 (5), 638–644. https://doi.org/10.11646/palaeoentomology.7.5.7
  29. Stankiewicz, B.A., Briggs, D.E.G., Evershed, R.P., Flannery, M.B. & Wuttke, M. (1997) Preservation of chitin in 25-million-year-old fossils. Science, 276, 1541–1543. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.276.5318.1541
  30. Steinmann, H. (1987) A new reclassification of the family Chelisochidae (Dermaptera). Annales Historico-Naturales Musei Nationalis Hungarici, 79, 113–118.
  31. Steinmann, H. (1993) Dermaptera: Eudermaptera II. Das Tierreich, 108, i–xxii + 1–711. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110872705
  32. Storch, G., Engesser, B. & Wuttke, M. (1996) Oldest fossil record of gliding in rodents. Nature, 379, 439–441. https://doi.org/10.1038/379439a0
  33. Uhl, D. & Herrmann, M. (2010) Palaeoclimate estimates for the Late Oligocene taphoflora of Enspel (Westerwald, W-Germany) based on palaeobotanical proxies. Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments, 90, 39–47. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12549-009-0018-0
  34. Uhl, D. & Poschmann, M. (2018) Groenlandia pescheri sp. nov. (Potamogetonaceae) from the Late Oligocene Fossil-Lagerstätte Enspel (Westerwald, Germany). Acta Palaeobotanica, 58, 61–72. https://doi.org/10.2478/acpa-2018-0001
  35. Uhl, D., Wuttke, M., Aiglstorfer, M., Gee, C.T., Grandi, F., Höltke, O., Kaiser, T., Kaulfuss, U., Lee, D., Lehmann, T., Oms, O., Poschmann, M.J., Rasser, M., Schindler, T., Smith, K.T., Suhr, P., Wappler, T. & Wedmann, S. (2024) Deep-time maar lakes and other volcanogenic lakes as Fossil-Lagerstätten—An overview. In: Uhl, D., Wuttke, M., Smith K. T., Wedmann, S. & Lehmann, T. (Eds), Pre-Quaternary maar lakes/volcanogenic lakes as Konservat Lagerstätten—Messel and beyond. Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments, 104, 763–868. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12549-024-00635-0
  36. Verhoeff, K.W. (1902) Über Dermapteren. 1. Aufsatz: Versuch eines neuen, natürlichen Systems auf vergleichend-morphologischer Gründlage und über den Mikrothorax der Insecten. Zoologischer Anzeiger, 25, 181–208.
  37. Wang, J., Engel, M.S., Shih, C. & Ren, D. (2023) A new earwig species of Stonychopygia from mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber (Dermaptera: Pygidicranidae). Cretaceous Research, 142, 105382. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2022.105382
  38. Wappler, T., Engel, M.S. & Haas, F. (2005) The earwigs (Dermaptera: Forficulidae) from the middle Eocene Eckfeld maar, Germany. Polskie Pismo Entomologiczne, 74 (3), 227–250.
  39. Wedmann, S., Poschmann, M. & Hörnschemeyer, T. (2010) Fossil insects from the Late Oligocene Enspel Lagerstätte and their palaeobiogeographic and palaeoclimatic significance. Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments, 90, 49–58. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12549-009-0013-5
  40. Willmann, R. (1990) Insekten aus der Fur-Formation von Dänemark (Moler, ob. Paleozän/unt. Eozän?) 2. Dermaptera. Meyniana, 42, 15–23
  41. Wuttke, M., Poschmann, M.J., Wappler, T., Bouchal, J.M., Geier, C., Ulrich, S. & Grímsson, F. (2024) Pollen-feeding in a giant pelobatid tadpole from the late Oligocene of Enspel, Germany. In: Uhl, D., Wuttke, M., Smith, K.T., Wedmann, S. & Lehmann, T. (Eds), Pre-Quaternary maar lakes/volcanogenic lakes as Konservat Lagerstätten—Messel and beyond. Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments, 104, 999–1026. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12549-024-00603-8
  42. Zatoń, M., Rakociński, M. & Marynowski, L. (2008) Pyrite framboids as paleoenvironmental indicators. Przegląd Geologiczny, 56, 158–164.