The fossil record of the planthopper family Achilidae, with particular reference to those in Baltic amber (Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha)

2016 ◽  
Vol 107 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 279-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alicja Magdalena Brysz ◽  
Jacek Szwedo
Keyword(s):  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Lower Cretaceous ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Baltic Amber ◽  
Fossil Species ◽  
The Family ◽  
Single Genus

ABSTRACTThe family Achilidae (Hemiptera, Fulgoromorpha, commonly called planthoppers) is one of the least known and least understood groups, due to their cryptic lifestyle. They appear in the fossil record in the Lower Cretaceous, with a single genus and two species from the Crato Formation of Brazil. The oldest amber inclusion is reported from the earliest Late Cretaceous amber of Burma. Surprisingly, Achilidae are relatively common among the larger inclusions that can be found in Eocene Baltic amber. The first description of a fossil species was in the mid-19th Century. Currently, there are 13 genera and 16 species known from fossils, of which nine genera and 11 species are from Baltic amber. However, many of them need reconsideration, revisionary studies and placement in the phylogenetic context of the family. Former studies on inclusions in this amber revealed several unique forms (extinct tribes Ptychoptilini and Waghildini), or taxa ascribable to the sparse Recent tribe Achilini. This paper provides an overview of the knowledge of fossil Achilidae, particularly those from Baltic amber. The Eocene appears to be the heyday of the family; however, this hypothesis should be tested with further detailed studies.

scholarly journals New fossil stilt-legged mites of Neophyllobius Berlese, 1886 (Acariformes, Camerobiidae) from Eocene Baltic amber

2020 ◽  
Vol 94 (4) ◽  
pp. 696-715 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mateusz Zmudzinski
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Baltic Amber ◽  
Fossil Species ◽  
The Family

AbstractThe fossil record of the family Camerobiidae has been represented by only one species, Neophyllobius succineus Bolland and Magowski, 1990, described from Eocene Baltic amber. These prostigmatan mites are distinguishable by their distinctly long and slender stilt-like legs, and they are associated with aboveground vegetation where they hunt for other small invertebrates. This paper enhances the knowledge of fossil stilt-legged mites. Two new fossil species, N. electrus new species and N. glaesus new species, are described from samples of Baltic amber, and remarks on their morphology and taphonomy are provided. The discovery is complemented with a discussion on morphological singularities (the shape of the prodorsum, the location of setae h1 and h2 in living specimens, and lengths of genual setae), an anomaly of hypertrophied seta (found in the N. glaesus holotype), and some biogeographical issues.UUID: http://zoobank.org/d1602384-ae4f-4f90-b4a1-6cdedd77c9e1

First male of Corethrella andersoni Poinar & Szadziewski, 2007 (Diptera: Corethrellidae) from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 47 ◽  
Author(s):  
RYSZARD SZADZIEWSKI ◽  
ELŻBIETA SONTAG
Keyword(s):  
North Africa ◽  
Lower Cretaceous ◽  
Biting Midges ◽  
Northern Asia ◽  
Fossil Species ◽  
Burmese Amber ◽  
Annotated List ◽  
Extant Species ◽  
The Family ◽  
Single Genus

The family Corethrellidae, called frog-biting midges, with the single genus Corethrella Coquillett, 1902, is a small group of dipterans including 107 extant species (Borkent, 2017). Females of most species are haematophagous and feed on males of frogs and toads locating them by their calls (Borkent, 2008). Extant frog-biting midges have a pantropical distribution, absent in Europe, north Africa, middle and northern Asia (Giłka & Szadziewski, 2009). The genus during its phylogenetic history dated back to Lower Cretaceous (125–129 Ma) had a broader geographical distribution, and during Eocene was present in Europe. Till now nine fossil species have been described from Lower Cretaceous Lebanese amber (1), mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber (1), Eocene Baltic amber (5) and Miocene Dominican amber (2) (a complete annotated list is provided below). 

Biting midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) as indicators of biostratigraphy, ecological reconstructions and identification of amber deposits

2016 ◽  
Vol 107 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 219-230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryszard Szadziewski
Keyword(s):  
Lower Cretaceous ◽  
Upper Cretaceous ◽  
Large Family ◽  
Morphological Characters ◽  
Baltic Amber ◽  
Wing Membrane ◽  
Biting Midges ◽  
Fossil Species ◽  
The Family ◽  
Protein Rich

ABSTRACTBiting midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) are a large family of flies that commononly appear in Lower Cretaceous to Miocene strata, with over 280 fossil species (4.3 % of the family), belonging to 49 genera (26 extant; 23 extinct). Morphological characters used in the identification of fossil genera and species are identical to those used in studies of extant Ceratopogonidae and, as a result, their potential indicative value is reliable. Two relictual extant genera, Leptoconops and Austroconops, reported from Lower Cretaceous Lebanese amber, are at least 125 million years old. Certain ceratopogonid genera are indicative for the Lower Cretaceous, Upper Cretaceous, Eocene or Miocene. A morphological character indicative for the Upper Cretaceous and Cenozoic is macrotrichia on the wing membrane of adults. Indicator species and genera are reviewed for all amber deposits. Eocene Baltic amber contains the best known fauna of biting midges, with 109 named species. Some genera are indicative of aquatic and semiaquatic habitats (predaceous genera, subfamily Ceratopogoninae), forests with rotting trees (Forcipomyia), sandy sea shore habitats (Leptoconops), a cold boreal climate (Ceratopogon) or warm climates (Nannohelea, Austroconops, Leptoconops, Meunierohelea, Metahelea). Females require a protein-rich meal and are well known for feeding on the blood of vertebrates, but many feed on other things, so this information can help with the interpretation of palaeoenvironments. Washingtonhelea taimyrica Szadziewski, 1996, described from Siberian amber, is transferred to the fossil genus Palaeobrachypogon: P.taimyricus (Szadziewski, 1996), comb. nov. For Serromyia alphea, mistakenly redescribed and illustrated from Eocene Bitterfeld amber (= Baltic amber) by Szadziewski (1993), a new name – Serromyiaerrata Szadziewski, nom. nov. – is proposed.

First fossil Litoleptis (Diptera: Spaniidae) from the Lower Cretaceous amber of San Just (Teruel Province, Spain)

Zootaxa ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 2026 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANTONIO ARILLO ◽  
ENRIQUE PEÑALVER ◽  
VICTORIA GARCÍA-GIMENO
Keyword(s):  
Lower Cretaceous ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Wing Venation ◽  
Fossil Species ◽  
Extant Species ◽  
The Family ◽  
First Time

In this paper Litoleptis fossilis sp. nov. a new fossil species belonging to the family Spaniidae (Diptera) is described. This is the first time the genus Litoleptis has been described from the fossil record. A comparison with extant species of Litoleptis and other fossil rhagionoids is done. The fossil is also compared to not closely related Diptera but having convergent wing venation. Palaeoecological and palaeobiogeographical comments are provided.

scholarly journals New Lower Cretaceous basal mantodean (Insecta) from the Crato Formation (NE Brazil)

2014 ◽  
Vol 65 (4) ◽  
pp. 285-292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shih-Wei Lee
Keyword(s):  
Early Cretaceous ◽  
Lower Cretaceous ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Upper Jurassic ◽  
Morphological Characters ◽  
Northeastern Brazil ◽  
Fossil Species ◽  
Cosmopolitan Distribution ◽  
The Family ◽  
Chapada Do Araripe

Abstract Mantodea are very rare in the fossil record. 28 fossil species are reported since the earliest occurrence of mantodeans in the Upper Jurassic (Tithonian). Here, I describe Cretophotina santanensis n. sp. from the Aptian (Lower Cretaceous) Crato Formation of Chapada do Araripe (northeastern Brazil). This species is characterized by long antenna and primitive raptorial forelegs. Morphological characters shared with the living genus Chaeteessa would support its assignment to the family Chaeteessidae. The tropical occurrence of the Early Cretaceous genus Cretophotina in Gondwana, together with occurrences of the genus Chaetessa from subtropical and temperate zones of Laurasia, implies that members of the family Chaeteessidae achieved nearly cosmopolitan distribution during the Early Cretaceous.

scholarly journals Two new long-rostrum cranefly species from the Cretaceous Iberian amber (Diptera, Limoniidae, Helius)

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Iwona Kania-Kłosok ◽  
Wiesław Krzemiński ◽  
Antonio Arillo
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Lower Cretaceous ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
First Record ◽  
Northern Spain ◽  
Fossil Species ◽  
Body Morphology ◽  
Cretaceous Period ◽  
Basque Cantabrian Basin

AbstractFirst record of the genus Helius—long-rostrum cranefly from Maestrazgo Basin (eastern Spain, Iberian Penisula) is documented. Two new fossil species of the genus Helius are described from Cretaceous Spanish amber and compared with other species of the genus known from fossil record with particular references to these known from Cretaceous period. Helius turolensis sp. nov. is described from San Just amber (Lower Cretaceous, upper Albian) Maestrazgo Basin, eastern Spain, and Helius hispanicus sp. nov. is described from Álava amber (Lower Cretaceous, upper Albian), Basque-Cantabrian Basin, northern Spain. The specific body morphology of representatives of the genus Helius preserved in Spanish amber was discussed in relation to the environmental conditions of the Maestrazgo Basin and Basque-Cantabrian Basin in Cretaceous.

A new fossil species of the genus Limodromus Motschulsky, 1850 (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Platynini) from Baltic amber with remarks on its death process

2018 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 399-408
Author(s):  
Sara Gamboa ◽  
Vicente M. Ortuño
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Species Group ◽  
Morphological Features ◽  
Baltic Amber ◽  
Sister Taxon ◽  
Death Process ◽  
Fossil Species

Limodromus emetikos sp. n. (Coleoptera: Carabidae) is described and illustrated from Baltic amber (Eocene). Based on its morphological features, the new species is considered a sister taxon of the extant Holarctic assimilis species group. Furthermore, the specimen described here could represent a case of stress-triggered regurgitation, which would represent the first fossil record of such a process in beetles.

The tale of the headless turtle

Zootaxa ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 4200 (2) ◽  
pp. 327 ◽  
Author(s):  
PEDRO S. R. ROMANO
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Phenotypic Plasticity ◽  
Lower Cretaceous ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Diagnostic Features ◽  
Fossil Species ◽  
The Past ◽  
Early Paleocene ◽  
Phylogenetic Hypotheses ◽  
A New Species

Pelomedusoides is the most diverse clade of side-necked turtles and there is an extensive fossil record (de Broin, 1988; Lapparent de Broin, 2000; Gaffney et al., 2006, 2011) that dates back at least to the Barremian (Lower Cretaceous) (Romano et al., 2014). Its large fossil record evidences a greater diversity in the past, particularly at the end of the Mesozoic, and exhibits a good sampling of species that are represented by skull material (Gaffney et al., 2006, 2011). As a consequence, the most complete and recent phylogenetic hypotheses for this clade (e.g. Romano et al., 2014; Cadena, 2015) are based on matrices comprising a great amount of cranial characters derived largely from Gaffney et al. (2006, 2011). In addition, it is well established that shell characters show a lot of phenotypic plasticity, even in the fossil species (Romano, 2008; Gaffney et al., 2006, 2011). In most cases it consequently is not justified to rely on “diagnostic features” of poorly informative shell-only material for describing a new species. Because of that, most authors remark new morphotypes in the literature when such aberrant specimens are recovered, but do not make any nomenclatural act by proposing a new yet poorly supported species (e.g. Romano et al., 2013; Ferreira & Langer, 2013; Menegazzo et al., 2015). Unfortunately, such a supposedly new bothremydid turtle (Pleurodira: Bothremydidae) from the Early Paleocene of Brazil was recently described based on poorly diagnostic remains (Carvalho et al., 2016; hereafter CGB, for the authors initials) and a correction of this unfounded nomenclatural act is required. In addition I present some comments on shell only material from Brazil in order to guide splitter-taxonomists to stop describing poorly preserved fossil specimens as new species. 

Notes on fossil Bdelloidea 1: the first snout mite (Acariformes: Bdellidae: Odontoscirinae) from the Cretaceous amber of Myanmar

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (10) ◽  
pp. 1754-1764
Author(s):  
Andrés O. Porta ◽  
Daniel N. Proud ◽  
Peter Michalik ◽  
Fabio Akashi Hernandes
Keyword(s):  
Fossil Record ◽  
Fossil Species ◽  
The Family ◽  
Recent Species ◽  
Mite Genus

A protonymph of the snout mite genus Odontoscirus Thor, 1913, O. cretacico sp. nov., is described and illustrated from Cretaceous amber of Myanmar is described and illustrated, constituting the earliest fossil species described of the family Bdellidae (ca. 99 Ma). After reexamining the literature and recollected specimens from type localities, we conclude that the following five recent species do not belong to the genus Biscirus and should be transferred to Odontoscirus: O. anomalicornis (Berlese 1916) comb. nov., O. symmetricus (Kramer 1898) comb. nov., O. uncinatus (Kramer 1898) comb. nov., O. norvegicus (Thor 1905) comb. nov., and O. insularis (Willmann 1939) comb. nov. The implications of the fossil record of the family is discussed.

A new fossil species of the Australian endemic genus Peradenia Naumann & Masner (Hymenoptera: Proctotrupoidea, Peradeniidae) from Baltic Amber

2001 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 191-194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jens-Wilhelm Janzen ◽  
Norman F. Johnson ◽  
Luciana Musetti
Keyword(s):  
Baltic Amber ◽  
Australian Capital Territory ◽  
Fossil Species ◽  
Southeastern Australia ◽  
Extant Species ◽  
The Family ◽  
The Status ◽  
Subfamily Classification ◽  
A New Species

AbstractThe family Peradeniidae (Hymenoptera: Proctotrupoidea) is represented by two rare extant species from southeastern Australia (Australian Capital Territory, Victoria, Tasmania). A new species, Peradenia galerita sp. n., is described from Eocene Baltic amber. The fossil species is very similar to the living Perndenia, but has the short metasomatic petiole typical of most Proctotrupoidea. The subfamily classification of Heloridae proposed by Rasnitsyn and the status of Peradeniidae are briefly reviewed. The subfamily Mesohelorinae Rasnitsyn, 1990 is a junior synonym of Protohelorinae Rasnitsyn, 1980 (syn. n.).

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