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

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.

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 47 ◽  
Author(s):  
RYSZARD SZADZIEWSKI ◽  
ELŻBIETA SONTAG

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). 


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 269-283
Author(s):  
WESLEY D. COLOMBO ◽  
EVGENY E. PERKOVSKY ◽  
CELSO O. AZEVEDO

The flat wasps, Bethylidae, are cosmopolitan and one of the most diverse families of Chrysidoidea. Bethylidae have 2,920 described extant species and almost 90 fossil species. The oldest geological record of the family is the Lower Cretaceous, from Lebanese and Spanish ambers and Transbaikalian rock fossils. Here we describe and illustrate one new fossil subfamily of Bethylidae: †Elektroepyrinae subfam. nov. represented by †Elektroepyris Perrichot & Nel from the lowermost Eocene Oise amber (France), which was cladistically assessed against all other eight subfamilies of Bethylidae. The new taxon is easily distinguished from other subfamilies by the forewing venation with the third abscissa of Cu present. Phylogenetic analyses support the monophyly of all subfamilies of Bethylidae, with a matrix with 69 morphological characters and 22 terminal taxa from where †Elektroepyrinae subfam. nov. emerged as independent lineage from all other subfamilies.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (5) ◽  
pp. 505-514 ◽  
Author(s):  
DAVID PERIS ◽  
JOSEF JELÍNEK

Although the family Kateretidae has fewer than 100 described extant species, its fossil record is growing. The description given here of Electrumeretes birmanicus gen. et sp. nov. and Polliniretes penalveri gen. et sp. nov. brings the number of fossil species in Kateretidae up to nine. Eight of the fossil species have been described from amber deposits and six are from the Cretaceous. All the Cretaceous fossil species and one from the Eocene share atypically short elytra and three dorsally exposed abdominal tergites, whereas in Recent relatives, even though they have shortened elytra, only the pygidium and a part of the preceding one or two abdominal tergites are exposed. It is suggested that shortened elytra (brachelytry) represents an ancestral state and that elytra may have become secondary longer in extant relatives.


2013 ◽  
Vol 87 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vladimir N. Makarkin ◽  
S. Bruce Archibald

The early Eocene green lacewings (Neuroptera, Chrysopidae) of the Okanagan Highlands deposits of McAbee, and Driftwood Canyon, British Columbia (Canada) and Republic, Washington (U.S.A.) are treated in detail for the first time. At least six genera are present, one unnamed, three new, with at least 10 new species, six named:Protochrysa fuscobasalisn. sp. (McAbee) (Limaiinae, the youngest known record of the subfamily),Okanaganochrysa coltsunaen. gen. n. sp. (McAbee),Adamsochrysa asperan. gen. n. sp. (McAbee),A. wilsonin. gen. n. sp. (Republic),Archaeochrysa profractan. sp. (McAbee), andPseudochrysopa harveyin. gen. n. sp. (Driftwood Canyon) (all Nothochrysinae, the latter provisionally). The four unnamed species include one assigned toPseudochrysopa, two likely belonging toAdamsochrysa, and one of an unknown nothochrysine genus. Microtholi are detected on the abdominal sclerites ofAdamsochrysa wilsoni, and the spermatheca and spermathecal duct in the abdomen ofPseudochrysopa harveyi, the first reported occurrences of these preserved in fossil Chrysopidae. Structures were detected on the apical wing margins of some species that appear similar to trichosors, which are unknown in Chrysopidae, but are present in some other neuropteran families. This is the richest described assemblage of the family anywhere in the fossil record. Okanagan chrysopids were also morphologically and presumably ecologically diverse, including large species with rich venation and well as those with simplified venation and the smallest known fossil species. This is the oldest reported occurrence of the family in North America.


2014 ◽  
Vol 65 (4) ◽  
pp. 285-292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shih-Wei Lee

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.


Author(s):  
Alicja Magdalena Brysz ◽  
Jacek Szwedo

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.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Juan López-Gappa ◽  
Leandro M. Pérez ◽  
Ana C.S. Almeida ◽  
Débora Iturra ◽  
Dennis P. Gordon ◽  
...  

Abstract Bryozoans with calcified frontal shields formed by the fusion of costae, collectively constituting a spinocyst, are traditionally assigned to the family Cribrilinidae. Today, this family is regarded as nonmonophyletic. In the Argentine Cenozoic, cribrilinids were until recently represented by only two fossil species from the Paleocene of Patagonia. This study describes the first fossil representatives of Jolietina and Parafigularia: J. victoria n. sp. and P. pigafettai n. sp., respectively. A fossil species of Figularia, F. elcanoi n. sp., is also described. The material comes from the early Miocene of the Monte León and Chenque formations (Patagonia, Argentina). For comparison, we also provide redescriptions of the remaining extant species of Jolietina: J. latimarginata (Busk, 1884) and J. pulchra Canu and Bassler, 1928a. The systematic position of some species previously assigned to Figularia is here discussed. Costafigularia n. gen. is erected, with Figularia pulcherrima Tilbrook, Hayward, and Gordon, 2001 as type species. Two species previously assigned to Figularia are here transferred to Costafigularia, resulting in C. jucunda n. comb. and C. tahitiensis n. comb. One species of Figularia is reassigned to Vitrimurella, resulting in V. ampla n. comb. The family Vitrimurellidae is here reassigned to the superfamily Cribrilinoidea. The subgenus Juxtacribrilina is elevated to genus rank. Inferusia is regarded as a subjective synonym of Parafigularia. Parafigularia darwini Moyano, 2011 is synonymized with I. taylori Kuklinski and Barnes, 2009, resulting in Parafigularia taylori n. comb. Morphological data suggest that these genera comprise different lineages, and a discussion on the disparities among cribrilinid (sensu lato) spinocysts is provided. UUID: http://zoobank.org/215957d3-064b-47e2-9090-d0309f6c9cd8


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Iwona Kania-Kłosok ◽  
Wiesław Krzemiński ◽  
Antonio Arillo

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.


PeerJ ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. e1301 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adiël A. Klompmaker ◽  
Roger W. Portell ◽  
Aaron T. Klier ◽  
Vanessa Prueter ◽  
Alyssa L. Tucker

Spider crabs (Majoidea) are well-known from modern oceans and are also common in the western part of the Atlantic Ocean. When spider crabs appeared in the Western Atlantic in deep time, and when they became diverse, hinges on their fossil record. By reviewing their fossil record, we show that (1) spider crabs first appeared in the Western Atlantic in the Late Cretaceous, (2) they became common since the Miocene, and (3) most species and genera are found in the Caribbean region from the Miocene onwards. Furthermore, taxonomic work on some modern and fossil Mithracidae, a family that might have originated in the Western Atlantic, was conducted. Specifically,Maguimithraxgen. nov. is erected to accommodate the extant speciesDamithrax spinosissimus, whileDamithraxcf.pleuracanthusis recognized for the first time from the fossil record (late Pliocene–early Pleistocene, Florida, USA). Furthermore, two new species are described from the lower Miocene coral-associated limestones of Jamaica (Mithrax arawakumsp. nov. andNemausa windsoraesp. nov.). Spurred by a recent revision of the subfamily, two known species from the same deposits are refigured and transferred to new genera:Mithrax donovanitoNemausa, andMithrax unguistoDamithrax. The diverse assemblage of decapods from these coral-associated limestones underlines the importance of reefs for the abundance and diversity of decapods in deep time. Finally, we quantitatively show that these crabs possess allometric growth in that length/width ratios drop as specimens grow, a factor that is not always taken into account while describing and comparing among taxa.


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