Palaeoentomology

A review of the singing cicada fossils from the Pliocene Fossil-Lagerstätte Willershausen, Germany, with the description of three new species (Hemiptera: Cicadidae: Tibicinae and Cicadinae)

2023-08-02T06:55:04+12:00

The singing cicada fossils (Cicadidae), based mainly on isolated forewings, from the Pliocene Fossil-Lagerstätte Willershausen, Germany, are reviewed, including previously published material and unpublished specimens from the collections of the Geoscience Museum of the Geoscience Centre at the Georg August University in Göttingen, the State Museum of Natural History in Stuttgart, and the Geoscience Collections of the Clausthal University of Technology, which represent the three largest collections from this outstanding locality. Three new species, Tibicina lata sp. nov., Tibicina boulardi sp. nov. (Tibicinae), and Cicada tithonus sp. nov. (Cicadinae) are described based on forewing characters. Other singing cicadas from Willershausen are assigned to Tibicina sp., Tibicina aff. haematodes, Cicada aff. orni, Cicada aff. lodosi and indeterminable species.

Evolution of Insect Diversity in the Permian and Triassic

2023-09-19T00:08:59+12:00

The global warming that occurred during the Permo-Triassic transition, following the end of the Late Paleozoic glaciation, and the resulting responses of the biota to the changing environment, are considered important analogs for understanding rapid future warming scenarios. While there has been extensive research on the patterns and extent of diversity in plants, tetrapods, and marine invertebrates during the Permo-Triassic, the study of insect diversity and the evolution of their faunal composition has been relatively limited. The question of whether there were insect extinctions during this period continues to be a subject of debate. Here, we present a statistical study on taxonomic diversity of insects—at specific, generic and familial levels—throughout the Permian and Triassic, with subsampled context on the reported global occurrences. Our result show that more than one insect extinction events, accompanied by significant diversity drop and turnovers of faunal compositional, occurred in the Permian and Triassic. All the uncovered insect diversity crises exhibit strong correspondence with the well-known marine mass extinction events in the Middle Permian, Permo-Triassic transition, Carnian, and Rhaetian, whilst the marine correspondence with the Early Permian insect crisis is less pronounced. Insects, being a major component of terrestrial ecosystems, demonstrate varied diversity responses to climatic changes in Permian and Triassic. Our study sheds new light on the intricate interplay between insect diversity evolution and the changing environmental conditions during these critical geohistorical periods.

**First fossil record of Trichosteleum (Bryophyta: Sematophyllaceae) from mid-Miocene Zhangpu amber in Asia**

2023-07-13T02:45:07+12:00

The evolutionary history of terrestrial moss in Asia during the Cenozoic is poorly interpreted in largely because of very limited fossil evidence. The middle Miocene Zhangpu amber is the sole resin source of moss fossils in China, which shows a diverse moss population during the mid-Miocene Climatic Optimum. In this study, we reported the discovery of a gametophyte fragment of moss fossil in a well-preserved amber inclusion from the middle Miocene of Zhangpu, Southeast China. The observation methods involved light microscopy and synchrotron radiation–based X-ray microcomputed tomography analysis on the amber inclusions. The fossil has lanceolate leaves with involute margins, long linear laminal cells with unipapillae, well-developed and enlarged alar cells, and an absence of costae. The fossil is assigned to the extant Trichosteleum and represents the only known occurrence of a fossilized Trichosteleum member in Asia. This finding enhances our comprehension on the moss diversity within Zhangpu amber and establishes a first record of Trichosteleum in Asia.

Cretaceous beetles of the Jinju Formation (Coleoptera): Archostemata

2023-10-06T09:37:37+13:00

The beetles from the Lower Cretaceous Lagerstätte in South Korea, Jinju Formation, remain largely unstudied. In the present study, the fossils of suborder Archostemata from the Jinju Formation are described and illustrated, including the complete bodies of Asiania pax gen. et sp. nov. and Brochocoleus sacheonensis sp. nov., and the isolated elytra of Brochocoleus cf. punctatus, Omma sp. and Zygadenia cornigera sp. nov.

A new hangingfly species (Mecoptera: Bittacidae) from the Paleocene Paskapoo Formation (Canada)

2023-10-05T03:17:35+13:00

The order Mecoptera, commonly known as scorpionflies, has a long and fascinating evolutionary history that spans over 270 million years, if we consider its stem group. Despite their well-documented fossil record during the Mesozoic, many aspects of their diversity and evolution remain poorly understood. In this study, we increase the fossil record of Mecoptera by describing a new taxon from the Paleocene Paskapoo Formation (Alberta, Canada). This specimen is described as Bittacus? paskapooensis sp. nov. (Raptipedia: Bittacidae) but is assigned with caution to Bittacus due to the lack of apomorphic wing venation characters for this genus.

A new scolebythid-like chrysidoid genus and species (Hymenoptera: Chrysidoidea) with striking metasomal structure from the mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber

2023-10-05T02:34:37+13:00

The Cretaceous fossil record of the aculeate superfamily Chrysidoidea has been greatly enriched in the past few years, thanks especially to the abundance of available material in the late Albian-early Cenomanian amber from the Kachin state (Myanmar). We here document the discovery of a new genus and species, Thagyaminobythus martini gen. et sp. nov., from Kachin amber, emphasizing the extraordinary diversity of chrysidoid wasps in this deposit. The genus is left as incertae sedis within the superfamily because it exhibits a combination of Scolebythidae, Bethylidae and Chrysididae features. We discuss the possibility that Thagyaminobythus martini gen. et sp. nov. could retract its posterior metasomal segments and the co-occurrence of such a structure in several chrysidoid families.

**A striking new XXL-size flat bug from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber: Archemezira nuoyichenae sp. nov. (Heteroptera, Aradidae)**

2023-10-11T14:49:40+13:00

The mid-Cretaceous amber deposits in Northern Myanmar yielded to date eleven genera and 14 species of the flat bug family Aradidae. A remarkable large female specimen of a flat bug shares basic characters of the genus Archemezira is supposed to represent a female taxon of this genus and is described and figured herein as Archemezira nuoyichenae sp. nov.

A new brown lacewing (Neuroptera: Hemerobiidae) from mid-Cretaceous Myanmar amber

2023-08-13T12:18:52+12:00

A new genus and species of fossil hemerobiid, Longantenna hei gen. et sp. nov., is described from the mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber. This new genus exhibits the venation characters combination of RP with only one stem and the forewing ScP and RA separated, resembling the extinct genus Hemeroberotha Makarkin & Gröhn, 2020 from the same assemblage, meanwhile it shows more differences from the other Mesozoic and Cenozoic hemerobiid genera. Besides, the ORBs variations among the extinct and extant hemerobiids are discussed.

New Jurassic protopsyllidiids from the Yan’an Formation, North China (Insecta: Hemiptera)

2023-10-24T10:19:19+13:00

The Middle-Late Jurassic Yanliao biota is a significant paleoecosystem for the understanding of the evolution of Life during the Mesozoic. The origin, distribution, and geology of the Yanliao biota are poorly understood to date. Here we describe and illustrate two new species of protopsyllidiids, namely Sinopsocus yananensis sp. nov. and Subaphidulum sinica sp. nov. from the Middle Jurassic Yan’an Formation near Yan’an City, Shaanxi Province, North China. S. yananensis sp. nov. closely resembles the type species Sinopsocus oligovenus from the Haifanggou Formation at Beipiao City, West Liaoning, Northeast China. The new discoveries not only increase the diversity of Mesozoic protopsyllidiids but also provide thread for understanding the origin of the Yanliao biota.

**Oribatid mites in Burmese amber I. First record of the family Achipteriidae (Acariformes, Oribatida) in Cretaceous amber, with the description of a new species of Cerachipteria Grandjean, 1935**

2023-10-13T12:37:25+13:00

Burmese amber originates from the Hukawng Valley in northern Myanmar (Burma). Shi et al. (2012) proposed an age of ca. 99 Ma based on zircon dating, whereas Smith & Ross (2018) proposed an age of 100 Ma based on sediments inside amber produced by bored bivalves. Regarding the plant producing resin Cruickshank & Ko (2003) recorded spores both of Araucariaceae and Taxodiaceae origin. Poinar et al. (2007) proposed an araucariacean origin due to the similitudes with modern kauri pines (Agathis) from New Zealand, while Grimaldi & Ross (2017) suggested the possibility of a Cupressaceae (Metasequoia) origin. Although amber inclusions from Myanmar were first described by Cockerell (1916), great interest (and a huge number of papers) in this biota started only two decades ago.

First leafhopper from the earliest Eocene Fur Formation (Denmark) representing a new genus of Cicadellinae (Hemiptera: Cicadomorpha)

2023-08-13T23:50:30+12:00

The Fur Formation, located in the western Limfjord region of northern Jutland, Denmark, is famous for its numerous and often exceptionally well-preserved marine and terrestrial fossils (e.g., Bonde et al., 2008). The geological background of the Konservat-Lagerstätte was described by Pedersen & Surlyk (1983). The formation preserves a rich record of earliest Ypresian (Eocene, ca. 55 Ma) fossil insects (e.g., Madsen & Rasmussen, 2021). The fauna includes many hemipterans mostly representing Heteroptera and Sternorrhyncha but the diverse modern family Cicadellidae (leafhoppers) is represented by a single specimen among the >20,000 available insect fossils discovered so far.

Scientific analysis of ancient amber artifacts along the Maritime Silk Road

2023-10-11T09:57:24+13:00

Amber, highly prized in ancient times, has a wide range of applications. Archaeological evidence confirms that amber played a significant role in long-distance material exchange and trade during ancient times. Baltic amber, in particular, was extensively traded in the Near East region during the Bronze age (e.g., Todd, 1985). The emergence of the Silk Road trade additionally facilitated the spread of amber and its products in the Far East. Extensive archaeological excavations conducted across the Eurasian steppe (Treister, 2020), as well as in China and the Korean Peninsula, have yielded numerous amber artifacts originating from the Baltic Sea (e.g., Park et al., 2016; Xiao et al., 2020; Liu et al., 2022). The northern region of Myanmar served as a significant source of amber material in Asia during ancient times, and amber from this area and its products have also been discovered in the Han Dynasty (206 BCE–220 AD) tombs in China (Chen et al., 2019; Zhao et al., 2023; Liu et al., 2023). It is generally accepted that the ancient amber artifacts in China were primarily made from amber obtained from both the Baltic region and Myanmar (e.g., Xu, 2008). However, the scarcity of amber in Iron Age sites across South and Southeast Asia impedes tour comprehensive understanding about its usage and trade among this specific area.

An unusual artematopodid beetle from Early Cretaceous Wealden amber (Coleoptera: Elateroidea: Artematopodidae)

2023-10-14T02:55:50+13:00

Early Cretaceous Wealden amber of the Isle of Wight (early Barremian, ~125 Ma) represents one of the oldest known fossiliferous ambers. Here we describe the first fossil beetle from the deposit, and first British coleopteran amber inclusion, the artematopodid Valdopogon simpsoni gen. et sp. nov. Despite its fragmentary nature, the fossil possesses a puzzling combination of characters unseen in modern Artematopodidae, namely equally long abdominal ventrites I and II, concave sutures between ventrites I–V, and absence of elytral striation. Valdopogon contributes to our understanding of the morphological evolution of this once diverse group of elateroid beetles.