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Issue: Vol. 5739 No. 1: 31 Dec. 2025
Type: Article
Published: 2025-12-31
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5739.1.12
Page range: 75-82
Abstract views: 25
PDF downloaded: 16

The first occurrence of water boatmen family Micronectidae (Nepomorpha: Corixoidea) in Eocene Baltic amber

Institut de Systématique; Évolution; Biodiversité (UMR 7205) Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle; CNRS; Sorbonne Université; EPHE-PSL; Université des Antilles; F-75005 Paris; France; Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München; Biocenter; Großhaderner Str. 2; 82152 Planegg-Martinsried; Germany
Institut de Systématique; Évolution; Biodiversité (UMR 7205) Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle; CNRS; Sorbonne Université; EPHE-PSL; Université des Antilles; F-75005 Paris; France
Liseistig 10; D-22149 Hamburg; Germany
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München; Biocenter; Großhaderner Str. 2; 82152 Planegg-Martinsried; Germany; State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy; Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology; Chinese Academy of Sciences; Nanjing 210008; China
Institut de Systématique; Évolution; Biodiversité (UMR 7205) Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle; CNRS; Sorbonne Université; EPHE-PSL; Université des Antilles; F-75005 Paris; France
Baltic amber hemiptera Micronectidae Micronecta preservation

Abstract

The fossil record of true aquatic bugs (Heteroptera: Nepomorpha) in amber outcrops is scarce, hampering our knowledge of their diversification. Recently, numerous discoveries have been made in mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber, whereas there is only one taxon described in Cenozoic ambers (Popov & Heiss, 2014), despite the abundance of such specimens in lacustrine deposits. We report the first reliable fossil occurrence of Micronectidae, which is tentatively attributed to the extant genus Micronecta. The taxonomic affinities of the fossil are discussed, as well as the scarcity of Nepomorpha in Cenozoic amber deposits.

 

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How to Cite

Boderau, M., Peng, A., Hoffeins, C., Fu, Y. & Nel, A. (2025) The first occurrence of water boatmen family Micronectidae (Nepomorpha: Corixoidea) in Eocene Baltic amber. Zootaxa, 5739 (1), 75–82. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5739.1.12