First record of the Sulia glaesaria Simutnik, 2015 (Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea, Encyrtidae) from Rovno amber

Sulia glaesaria Simutnik, 2015 (Chalcidoidea, Encyrtidae), originally described from late Eocene Danish amber, is reported in coeval Rovno amber. A revised diagnosis of this genus is provided based on the new specimen and high-resolution photomicrographs of the holotype. Some character states, such as a short radicle, clypeus with long lateral margins, the presence of a strigil and basitarsal comb, spur vein of the hind wing, costal cell of hind wing along entire marginal vein with single line of long setae, and almost vertical syntergum with abruptly reflexed extension apically are reported in this species for the first time.

Discovery of the first pincer wasp (Hymenoptera, Dryinidae) from Rovno amber

Dryinidae (Hymenoptera: Chrysidoidea) are recorded for the first time from Rovno amber (Ukraine), following the discovery of one female of Dryinus janzeni Olmi. Holotypes of D. balticus (Olmi) and D. bruesi (Olmi) previously assigned to the Baltic amber, were actually collected on the coast of Denmark, so that they have to be recorded as specimens in Scandinavian (Danish) amber. As a result, true records of Dryinus species of group 3 (Olmi 1993) in Baltic amber are three: D. janzeni, D. bruesi, because of a second specimen found in true Baltic amber, and D. velteni Olmi. Dryinidae are the 33th hymenopteran family known from Rovno amber. Three species, D. janzeni, D. bruesi and D. balticus are known from understudied Rovno and Scandinavian amber originated from the warmer south coast of the Subparathetys. Dryinus janzeni is the 115th hymenopteran species known from Rovno amber and the first Dryinus record from Ukraine.

Comparison of Biting Midges of the Early Eocene Cambay Amber (India) and Late Eocene European Ambers Supports the Independent Origin of European Ambers

Of the three genera of Ceratopogoninae dominant in Late Eocene ambers of Europe, the two known are absent in the Early Eocene Cambay amber (India): the Holarctic genus Ceratopogon and the worldwide distributed genus Culicoides, known since the Late Cretaceous. Tropical biting midge genera (Meunierohelea and Leptoconops and genera with feminized male antennae: Camptopterohelea, Eohelea, and Gedanohelea) are abundantly represented in Cambay amber. The proportion of Ceratopogonini with feminized male antennae among all Ceratopogonidae dramatically increases from north to south: from 1.4-2.4 % in unbiased collections of Bitterfeld amber (Humboldt Museum collection) and Baltic amber (the Giecewicz collection) to 7 % in Danish amber and 12.7 % in Rovno amber; their proportion in Cambay amber is 17 %. The proportion of tropical specimens among specimens Ceratopogoninae in unbiased collections is 6.4 % in Baltic amber, 5.3 % in Bitterfeld amber, 21 % in Rovno and Danish amber, and 58 % in Cambay amber. Strong differences in the proportion of tropical components among Ceratopogoninae from different European ambers are in agreement with data on Cambay amber and so are indicative of origin of the European ambers under different climatic and hence geographic environments.

Rovno Amber Caddisflies (Insecta, Trichoptera) from Different Localities, with Information about three New Sites

The inventory of the trichopterofaunas of all Rovno amber sites is provided for the first time. Syninclusions of all Rovno amber caddisflies determined to the species level are also listed for the first time. At least 29 named species are known in Klesov, as compared with only 21 species recorded in Bitterfeld amber. Eocene caddisflies are recorded in Belarus and Zhitomir Region for the first time, and new sites of inclusions are revealed as well: Rechitsa in Belarus, Olevsk in Zhitomir Region, Kuchotskaya Volia in Rivne Region. Rechitsa yielded Erotesis bessylenon Melnitsky et Ivanov, 2016, the first undoubtedly new Eocene taxon described from Belarus. This paper is also the first to involve the data on Danish amber caddisflies in comparison of the faunas. Only five genera from four families (Wormaldia McLachlan, 1865, Archaeotinodes Ulmer, 1912, Lype McLachlan, 1878, Holocentropus McLachlan, 1878, and Plectrocnemia Stephens, 1836) are known from four European Lagerstätten: Baltic, Bitterfeld, Danish and Rovno amber. Archaeotinodes igneusaper Melnitsky, 2009 is mentioned for Rovno amber for the first time. Genera Allotrichia McLachlan, 1880 (Hydroptilidae) and Palaeocrunoecia Ulmer, 1912 (Lepidostomatidae) are excluded from the Rovno amber fauna.

Tropical and Holarctic Ants in Late Eocene Ambers

Based on representative collections, the ratio of tropical and Holarctic ant species in Priabonian (Late Eocene) Baltic, Bitterfeld (Saxonian), Danish and Rovno ambers is analyzed for the first time. In surveyed representative collections of Baltic amber, the ratios of Holarctic and tropical ant species are from 1.1 to 1.5; with 10 Holarctic and 9 tropical species (out of 31) in the PIN-964 collection, and 9 and 5 species (out of 29) in the Giecewicz collection; the ratio in the representative collection of Saxonian amber is 0.9, 11 Holarctic species vs. 12 tropical species (out of 55); in the representative collection of Rovno amber it is 0.65, 15 vs. 23 species (out of 79); and in the representative collection of Danish amber it is 0.64, 7 vs. 11 species (out of 36). Hence, in representative collections of Baltic amber, Holarctic species clearly prevail not just in terms of the share of their specimens (by 9.8 to 19.6 times), but also by the number of species. In Bitterfeld amber, Holarctic species are somewhat less numerous than tropical ones, but their specimens are 6 times greater. In representative collections of Rovno and Danish ambers, the number of Holarctic species is 1.5 to 1.7 times smaller than that of tropical species, but the number of their specimens is 4.9 to 6.9 times greater. The numbers of tropical and Holarctic species represented by more than one specimen is similar in Priabonian ambers, 25 versus 22, but Holarctic species include four dominants or subdominants. The abundance of temperate elements in the Priabonian amber ant fauna along with the relatively small number of tropical elements greatly distinguishes it from the Middle European Lutetian ant faunas of Messel and Eckfeld in shale, which do not have temperate elements at all. Formica phaethusa Wheeler, Glaphyromyrmex oligocenicus Wheeler, Plagiolepis squamifera Mayr, Proceratium eocenicum Dlussky, Hypoponera atavia (Mayr), Ponera lobulifera Dlussky, Aphaenogaster mersa Wheeler, and Ennaemerus reticulatus Mayr are new records for Rovno amber, and Formica gustawi Dlussky and Gnamptogenys europaea (Mayr) for Danish amber.