Palaeoentomology

A new genus of Ipsviciidae (Hemiptera, Cicadomorpha) with a tegminal strigil from the Triassic of Madygen

2022-09-06T12:44:39+12:00

The family Ipsviciidae, originally described from the Upper Triassic of Australia and considered an offshoot of the Scytinopteridae (Tillyard, 1919), was later variously assigned to Heteroptera, Coleorrhyncha, Fulgoroidea, or Cicadomorpha (Cercopoidea or its own superfamily) by different authors (see Lambkin, 2020). Shcherbakov (1984) placed Ipsviciidae in the Scytinopteroidea and demonstrated that this superfamily is ancestral to Heteroptera (Shcherbakov, 1996). The family comprises several genera known from the Triassic and Lower Jurassic of Australia and Eurasia (Lambkin, 2020). A peculiar monotypic genus of Ipsviciidae with a strigil (stridulatory area) on the underside of the tegmen is described below from the Middle to Upper Triassic (Ladinian–Carnian) of the Madygen Lagerstätte, Central Asia. Such a strigil indicates that the new species possessed a stridulatory device of the forewing-hindleg type, similar to those occurring in the extinct Dysmorphoptilidae (Evans, 1961) and some extant true bugs (see Discussion). Dysmorphoptilids and the new ipsviciid genus may have used these devices to produce alarm signals.

A proctotrupid wasp in Lebanese Lower Cretaceous amber (Hymenoptera: Proctotrupidae)

2022-09-12T11:57:03+12:00

The first fossil proctotrupid wasp in Lower Cretaceous Lebanese amber is described and figured. Astarteserphus grimaldii gen. et sp. nov. is distinguished from all other living and fossil Proctotrupidae and placed into its own subfamily, Astarteserphinae subfam. nov. A key is presented to the living and fossil subfamilies and tribes of Proctotrupidae, and a brief discussion is provided on the unique features and diminutive size of the fossil.

The first Proctotrupidae (Hymenoptera) in Burmese amber, with description of a new genus and species

2022-07-28T21:27:13+12:00

Cresogmus grimaldii Rasnitsyn & Kolyada gen. et sp. nov. is described from the mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber in the tribe Disogmini (subfamily Proctotrupinae) as the first representative of the family Proctotrupidae encased in Burmese amber. This new genus is diagnosed by the occipital carina extending to the lower half of the head, the pronotum lacking an epomia, the pterostigma short, the petiole open but very short, the ovipositor wide and bent throughout, with its apex widely rounded. Diagnostic characters of Disogmini are revised.

Transitional morphology and Afrotropical affinity of a bythinoplectine rove beetle from the early Eocene of India (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Pselaphinae)

2022-08-09T04:29:32+12:00

Recently discovered Ypresian-age amber from Cambay, India, reveals an ancient arthropod assemblage on the Indian subcontinent during its collision with Asia. Despite the tectonic history of India, limited connections have been found between the Cambay palaeofauna and present-day Madagascan and mainland African faunas. Here, I describe a new fossil pselaphine rove beetle (Staphylinidae: Pselaphinae) recovered from the Cambay deposit that shows closest apparent phylogenetic affinity to modern Afrotropical genera. Yprezethinus grimaldii gen. et sp. nov. is placed in Bythinoplectini, subtribe Bythinoplectina. Based on antennal and maxillary palp morphology, Yprezethinus is a putative transitional stem lineage of the Zethinus-group of genera—an extant clade distributed across equatorial African rainforests. Although Yprezethinus shares with this clade the derived feature of ovoid antennal clubs formed by tight appression of the apical two segments, it differs from its putative extant relatives in its possession of the plesiomorphic complement of 11 antennomeres, without any fusions of segments. The fossil taxon signifies a biotic link between early Eocene India and continental Africa, and marks the Cenozoic emergence of a tropical leaf litter arthropod fauna approaching that of contemporary, ant-dominated rainforests.

**A review of the Cretaceous genus Eltxo (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) with description of the new species Eltxo grimaldii from El Soplao amber**

2022-08-09T04:33:05+12:00

A new species, Eltxo grimaldii sp. nov., is described from Spanish Lower Cretaceous (middle Albian) amber from El Soplao, based on a single female. The new species is compared with the other only known species of the genus, Eltxo cretaceus Arillo & Nel, 2000, based on a single male specimen also found in Spanish amber, but slightly younger (Peñacerrada I amber; upper Albian). The holotype of E. cretaceus is reviewed and its description corrected and expanded, providing the first micrographs of its anatomical features. The holotype of the new fossil species is the only female specimen known of the cecidomyiid tribe Amediini Jaschhof, 2021, a tribe recently described after changes of taxonomic attribution of the genus Eltxo during the last 20 years.

Palleptoceridae fam. nov., an extinct leptoceroid family in mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber (Insecta, Trichoptera)

2022-09-15T20:17:40+12:00

The family Palleptoceridae fam. nov. is proposed as a new extinct family of the superfamily Leptoceroidea. It is characterized by the absence of ocelli, the presence of five-segmented maxillary palps in both sexes, antennae longer than the forewings, and the tibial spur in the form of 2/4/4. The extinct Palleptoceridae is closely related to the leptoceroid family Leptoceridae, but the formula for the adult tibial spur is reduced from 2/4/4 to 2/2/4 (Morse, 1981). The Palleptocerus grimaldii sp. nov. from the mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber is furthermore characterized by the sexual dimorphic wing venation. In the forewings, the apical forks I and V are present in the male and forks I, III, and V in the female; in the hind wings of both sexes, exclusively the apical fork V is present. The Leptoceroidea originated and evolved in Gondwana. Palleptocerus grimaldii sp. nov. is interpreted as a relict species of the Gondwanan Leptoceroidea in Burmese amber.

Dolichopodidae (Diptera) from the Eocene amber deposits of Cambay and Kutch Basins, India

2022-09-16T13:01:06+12:00

The family Dolichopodidae (Diptera) from the Eocene amber of the Cambay and Kutch, India is reviewed. Based on a sample of 38 inclusions, the fauna preserved in amber reveals that the family was well-differentiated by early the Eocene. Palaeomedeterus cambayensis Bickel sp. nov. is described and provisionally assigned to the Peloropeodinae, and is congeneric with European Baltic amber species, suggesting the genus was widespread for a considerable time period in both Europe and India. Two small-sized new monotypic genera are also described, Gujaratmyia rotunda Bickel gen. et sp. nov. and Rajpardia grimaldii Bickel gen. et sp. nov. Also included are undescribed members of the dolichopodid subfamilies Diaphorinae and Medeterinae, and unplaced species. The Baltic amber species Prohercostomus noxialis (Meunier, 1907) is regarded as the new senior synonym of Sympycnites primaevus Grimaldi & Cumming, 1999, described with a mistaken provenance of Cretaceous Lebanese amber.

A new species of embidopsocine barklouse in Langhian amber from Zhangpu, China (Psocoptera: Liposcelididae)

2022-09-17T16:41:45+12:00

A new fossil liposcelidid barklouse is described and figured in mid-Miocene amber from southeastern China. Belaphotroctes grimaldii sp. nov. is documented from an individual preserved in Langhian amber from Zhangpu, Fujian, China, and is the first fossil species of the family from the Cenozoic of Asia. The species is distinguished from its congeners and comments are provided regarding the implications of a Belaphotroctes Roesler in the Miocene of China.

Hirsutisoma grimaldii sp. nov., a ca. 99-million-year-old ricinuleid (Primoricinulei, Hirsutisomidae) from Cretaceous Burmese amber with a corticolous, scansorial lifestyle

2022-09-17T17:43:50+12:00

Ricinulei Thorell, 1876 is an order of Arachnida currently represented in the New and Old Worlds by 103 living species. The order is also represented in the fossil record from the Carboniferous (ca. 305–319 Ma) and the Cretaceous (ca. 99 Ma) periods. In the present contribution, Hirsutisoma grimaldii sp. nov., a new extinct species of the suborder Primoricinulei Wunderlich, 2015, is described from a specimen preserved in Cretaceous Burmese amber. The specimen is a well-preserved adult male in which several taxonomically informative structures are visible, allowing the new species to be differentiated from Hirsutisoma bruckschi Wunderlich, 2017, the only other congener for which a male is known. This description raises the number of Cretaceous Ricinulei species to six. A comparative table documents morphological differences among the various species of this lineage. Hypotheses concerning the paleoecology and functional morphology of this species and, by extrapolation, other primoricinuleids, are presented. The evidence suggests that Primoricinulei were corticolous, scansorial predators.

Docidiadia grimaldii sp. nov. from Myanmar amber (Diptera: Diadocidiidae), with comments on the genus Docidiadia Blagoderov & Grimaldi

2022-09-09T02:19:59+12:00

Docidiadia grimaldii sp. nov., the second known species in the genus, is described based on a holotype female and on a female paratype. The differences with D. burmitica Blagoderov & Grimaldi, the type-species of the genus, are discussed. The specimens allow the study of important details of the antenna, wing, and terminalia. The question of the connection of Docidiadia to the extant family Diadocidiidae is addressed. An antenna with the flagellum more slender towards the apex is also known in the extinct sciaroid family Archizelmiridae, but the wing venation of Docidiadia is much more conservative than the wing in archizelmirid genera.

Fossils and flies: Contributions celebrating David A. Grimaldi (Front matter)

2022-09-15T12:35:12+12:00

The vision of David Grimaldi

2022-09-15T11:48:55+12:00

We are honored to present this special issue of Palaeoentomology in celebration of our dear friend, mentor, and collaborator, David A. Grimaldi (Fig. 1), and on the occasion of his 65^th birthday on 22 September 2022. This issue has been compiled in recognition of David’s remarkable ongoing impact on the fields of paleontology, entomology, and evolutionary biology. Throughout his career David has worn an inspirational path across disciplines as an exceptional, thoughtful, and creative scientist. His body of work is vast, punctuated by long-lasting classics that are international in scale and recognition. David is a world authority in multiple arenas; his well-earned expertise ranges from the fossil record and evolutionary history of insects beginning 400 million years ago in the Devonian to the systematics and morphology of notoriously complex drosophilids at the species level. His contributions have helped shape modern palaeoentomology. We are grateful for David’s work and fellowship and look forward to his continued accomplishments.

The Inventory Imperative

2022-09-12T12:37:41+12:00

“Imagine what could be accomplished—at a fraction of the cost of a Mars rover—by a small army of explorers and taxonomists toiling away to discover and categorize organisms…”—Grimaldi and Engel, 2007

“A complete survey of life on Earth may appear to be a daunting task. But compared with what has been dared and achieved in high-energy physics, molecular genetics, and other branches of ‘big science,’ it is in the second or third rank”—E.O. Wilson, 1985