Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Responsive image
Issue: Vol. 9 No. 3: June 2026
Type: Correspondence
Published: 2026-06-29
DOI: 10.11646/palaeoentomology.9.3.2
Page range: 209-212
Abstract views: 69
PDF downloaded: 25

The first fossil record of Plecia (Diptera, Bibionidae) of Greece from the Early-Middle Miocene of Kymi (Evia, Greece) and its palaeoclimatic and palaeoecological significance

GeoZentrum Nordbayern; Department of Geography and Geosciences; Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen–Nürnberg (FAU); Loewenichstraße 28; Erlangen 91054; Germany
Department of Historical Geology and Palaeontology; Faculty of Geology and Geoenvironment; National and Kapodistrian University of Athens; 15774 Athens; Greece
The first fossil record of Plecia (Diptera, Bibionidae) of Greece from the Early-Middle Miocene of Kymi (Evia, Greece) and its palaeoclimatic and palaeoecological significance

Abstract

The fossil record of Bibionidae (march flies), in the Cenozoic of Europe is particularly rich compared to other families of the order Diptera (Collomb et al., 2008; Skartveit & Nel, 2017), and the preservation of wings in these insects makes taxonomic analyses possible in most cases. At present, Plecia is not recorded from Europe (Hardy, 1965), and its last occurrences are recorded in the Middle-Late Miocene (Table 1). The distribution of extant and fossil march flies has been widely used to infer temperature changes during the Cenozoic (Gentilini, 1991; Wedmann 1998, 2000; Collomb et al., 2008).

References

  1. Avrithis, A.I. (2025) The first fossil caddisfly (Insecta: Trichoptera: Phryganeidae) of Anatolia, from the locality of Vitala of the Early Miocene of Kymi (Evia, Greece) and its paleogeographic importance. Palaeoentomology, 8 (6), 668–671. https://doi.org/10.11646/palaeoentomology.8.6.7
  2. Bachmayer, F., Symeonidis, N. & Theodoropoulos, D. (1971) Einige Insektenreste aus den Jungtertiaren Süsswasserablagerungen von Kumi (Insel Euboea, Griechenland). Annales Géologiques des Pays Helléniques, 23, 165–174.
  3. Bachmayer, F., Symeonidis, N. & Theodorou, G. (1981) Neue Insektenreste aus den jungtertiaren Süsswasser-Ablagerungen von Kumi (Insel Euboea, Griechenland). Annales Géologiques des Pays Helléniques, 30, 763–766.
  4. Bozukov, V. (2002) Miocene macroflora of the Satovcha Graben (Western Rhodopes). III. Comparative analysis of the Satovcha paleoflora with benchmark European macrofloras, Geological age of the paleoflora. Phytologia Balcanica, 8 (2), 165–180.
  5. Collomb, F.-M., Nel, A., Fleck, G. & Waller, A. (2008) March flies and European Cenozoic palaeoclimates (Diptera: Bibionidae). Annales de la Société Entomologique de France (N.S.), 44 (2), 161–179. https://doi.org/10.1080/00379271.2008.10697553
  6. Dürrenfeldt, A. (1968) Dipteren aus dem Oberpliozän von Willershausen. Beihefte zu den Berichten der Naturhistorischen Gesellschaft Hannover, 6, 43–81.
  7. Eiserhardt, W.L., Borchsenius, F., Plum, C.M., Ordonez, A., Svenning, J.-C. & Morlon, H. (2015) Climate-driven extinctions shape the phylogenetic structure of temperate tree floras. Ecology Letters, 18 (3), 263–272. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12409
  8. Fytikas, M., Giulliani, O., Innocenti, F., Manetti, P., Mazzuolli, R., Peccerillo, A. & Villari, L. (1976) Geochronological data on recent magmatism of the Aegean Sea. Tectonophysics, 31 (1-2), T29–T34. https://doi.org/10.1016/0040-1951(76)90161-X
  9. Gentilini, G. (1991) Bibionidae (Diptera: Nematocera) from the Upper Miocene of Monte Castellaro (Marche, Central Italy). Bolletino del Museo Civici di Storia Naturale di Verona, 15, 425–446.
  10. Hardy, D.E. (1950) A monographic study of the African Bibionidae (Diptera) part I: Introduction and genus Bibio Geoffroy. Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society, 23, 137–153.
  11. Hardy, D.E. (1965) Superfamily Bibionoidea. In: Stone, A., Sabrosky, C.W., Wirth, W.W., Foote, R.H. & Coulson, J.R. (Eds.), A Catalog of the Diptera of America North of Mexico. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington D.C., pp. 191–196.
  12. Hardy, D.E. (1981) 13. Bibionidae. In: McAlpine, J.F., Peterson, B.V., Shewell, G.E., Teskey, H.J., Vockeroth, J.R. & Wood, D.M. (coordinators), Manual of Nearctic Diptera. Volume 1. Research Branch, Agriculture Canada, Monograph 27, Ottawa, pp. 217–222.
  13. Hardy, D.E. (1989) Superfamily Bibionoidea 5. Family Bibionidae. In: Evenhuis, N.L. (Ed.), Catalog of the Diptera of the Australasian and Oceanian regions. Bishop Museum Special Publication, 86, 122–124.
  14. Harzhauser, M., Kroh, A., Mandic, O., Piller, W., Göhlich, U., Reuter, M. & Berning, B. (2007) Biogeographic responses to geodynamics: A key study all around the Oligo-Miocene Tethyan Seaway. Zoologischer Anzeiger, 246, 241–256. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcz.2007.05.001
  15. Ivanov, D., Utescher, T., Mosbrugger, V., Syabryaj, S., Djordjević-Milutinović, D. & Molchanoff, S. (2011) Miocene vegetation and climate dynamics in Eastern and Central Paratethys (Southeastern Europe). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 304 (3-4), 262–275. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2010.07.006
  16. Kovar-Eder, J., Kvaček, Z., Zastawniak, E., Givulescu, R., Hably, L., Mihajlovic, D., Teslenko, J. & Walther, H. (1996) Floristic trends in the vegetation of the Paratethys surrounding areas during Neogene time. In: Bernor, R., Fahlbusch, V. & Mittmann, H.-W. (Eds), The evolution of Western Eurasian Later Neogene Faunas. Columbia University Press, New York, pp. 399–409.
  17. Kovar-Eder, J. (2003) Vegetation dynamics in Europe during the Neogene. Deinsea, 10 (1), 373–392.
  18. Merz, B. & Haenni, J.-P. (2000) Morphology and terminology of adult Diptera (other than terminalia). In: Papp, L. & Darvas, B. (Eds), Contributions to a Manual of Palaearctic Diptera (with special reference to flies of economic importance). General and Applied Dipterology 1. Science Herald, Budapest, pp. 21–51.
  19. Nel, A. & Kundura, J.-P. (2024) A rare Plecia Wiedemann, 1828 (Diptera: Bibionidae) from the Paleocene of Menat, France. Palaeoentomology, 7 (2), 221–223. https://doi.org/10.11646/palaeoentomology.7.2.5
  20. Peñalver-Molla, E. (2002) Los insectos dipteros del Mioceno del Este de la Peninsula Ibérica; Rubiolos de Mora, Ribesalbes y Bicorp, Tafonomia y sistematica. Tesis Doctoral, Departament de Geologia, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Valencia, Valencia, 689 pp.
  21. Riegel, W., Wehmeyer, D., Meinke, K., Schwarz, G., Apostolikas, A. & Velitzelos, E. (1989) Succession of depositional environments in the Neogene basin at Aliveri, Evia (Greece). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 70, 261–273. https://doi.org/10.1016/0031-0182(89)90095-3
  22. Simov, N., Langourov, M., Pavlova, A., Hubenov, Z. & Bozukov, V. (2021) First record of fossil Diptera (Insecta) in Miocene deposits in Bulgaria. Comptes rendus de l’Académie Bulgare des sciences, 74, 233–240. https://doi.org/10.7546/CRABS.2021.02.10
  23. Skartveit, J. & Nel, A. (2017) Revision of fossil Bibionidae (Insecta: Diptera) from French Oligocene deposits. Zootaxa, 4225 (1), 1–83. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4225.1.1
  24. Skartveit, J. & Pika, M. (2014) Revision of Bibionidae described by Oswald Heer from the Miocene of Öhningen, Southern Germany. Mitteilungen der schweizerischen entomologischen Gesellschaft, 87, 103–134. https://doi.org/10.5169/seals-403081
  25. Skartveit, J. & Wedmann, S. (2015) Fossil Bibionidae (Insecta: Diptera) from the Eocene of Grube Messel, Germany. Studia Di001pterologica, 22, 77–83.
  26. Skartveit, J., Kaulfuss, U. & Gehler, A. (2025) Revision of the fossil species of Bibionidae (Diptera) from the Pliocene of Willershausen (Germany). PalZ, 99, 53–69. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12542-025-00714-3
  27. Velitzelos, D., Bouchal, J.M. & Denk, T. (2014) Review of the Cenozoic floras and vegetation of Greece. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 204, 56–117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.revpalbo.2014.02.006
  28. Wedmann, S. (1998) Taphonomie der Bibionidae (Insecta: Diptera) aus der oberoligozänen Fossillagerstätte Enspel (Westerwald, Deutschland). Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie Monatshefte, 9, 513–528. https://doi.org/10.1127/njgpm/1998/1998/513
  29. Wedmann, S. & Skartveit, J. (2020) First record of March flies (Insecta: Diptera: Bibionidae) from the Miocene Gračanica mine (Bugojno, Bosnia-Herzegovina). Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments, 100, 585–591. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12549-018-00369-w
  30. Wedmann, S. (2000) Die Insekten der oberoligozänen Fossillagerstätte Enspel (Westerwald, Deutschland)—Systematik, Biostratinomie und Paläoökologie. Mainzer Naturwissenschaftliches Archiv, (Beiheft 23), 1–154.
  31. Wiedemann, C.R.W. (1828) Aussereuropäische zweiflügelige Insekten. Aus Fortsetzung des Meigensche Werkes. Erster Theil. Schulz, Hamm, 608 pp. Bibionidae, pp. 72–81.
  32. Zachos, J., Pagani, M., Sloan, L., Thomas, E. & Billups, K. (2001) Trends, rhythms and aberrations in global climate 65 Ma to present. Science, 292, 686–693. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1059412
  33. Zalohar, J., Hitij, T. & Križnar, M. (2010) Muhi dlakarici (Diptera: Bibionidae) iz terciarnih plasti Zasavja in Tunjiškega gričevja [Two bibionid flies (Diptera: Bibionidae) from the Tertiary Beds of the Zasavje Region and the Tunjice Hills]. Kamniški Zbornik, 20, 223–230. [In Slovenian]