Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Responsive image
Issue: Vol. 84 No. 2: 28 May 2026
Type: Article
Published: 2026-05-28
DOI: 10.12976/jib/2026.84.2.1
Page range: 44-56
Abstract views: 94
PDF downloaded: 29

Discovery of a new fossil species of Mastogenius Solier, 1849 from Eocene Baltic amber (Coleoptera: Buprestidae: Polycestinae)

Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences; Kyoto Prefectural University; Sakyo; Kyoto 606-8522; Japan
The Hokkaido University Museum; Hokkaido University; Kita 10-jo; Nishi 8-chome; Kita-ku; Sapporo 060-0810; Japan
Haplostethini jewel beetles Paleogene Europe new species zoogeography paleoclimate

Abstract

To date, only two named species of Buprestidae have been described from Eocene Baltic amber. Based on a well-preserved adult specimen, a new species, Mastogenius aquilonaris sp. nov., is described from Baltic amber as the second fossil species of the genus Mastogenius Solier, 1849. This discovery reveals the further hidden paleodiversity of jewel beetles during the Eocene. Furthermore, our finding of the second Baltic amber species of this genus—now remarkably diversified primarily in the Neotropics—holds significant paleobiogeographical interest. We discuss not only the zoogeographical insights but also potential host plant families and paleoclimate.

References

  1. Alekseev V. 2016. Description of two clown beetles (Coleoptera: Staphyliniformia: Hydrophiloidea: Histeridae) from Baltic amber (Cenozoic, Paleogene, Eocene). Baltic Journal of Coleopterology 16(1): 27–35.

  2. Alekseev V. I. 2017. Coleoptera from the middle-upper Eocene European ambers: generic composition, zoogeography and climatic implications. Zootaxa 4290(3): 401–443.

  3. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4290.3.1

  4. Alekseev V. I. & Alekseev P. I. 2016. New approaches for reconstruction of the ecosystem of an Eocene amber forest. Biology Bulletin 43(1): 75–86.

  5. https://doi.org/10.1134/S1062359016010027

  6. Alekseev V. I., Mitchell J., McKellar R. C., Barbi M., Larsson H. C. & Bukejs A. 2021. The first described turtle beetles from Eocene Baltic amber, with notes on fossil Chelonariidae (Coleoptera: Byrrhoidea). Fossil Record 24(1): 19–32.

  7. https://doi.org/10.5194/fr-24-19-2021

  8. Bellamy C. L. 1991. Studies in the Mastogeniinae (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) III. New species, combinations and a world catalogue. Giornale Italiano di Entomologia 5: 109–128.

  9. Bellamy C. L. 1996. A new genus and species of Buprestidae (Coleoptera) from the Namibian Richtersveld, with comments on the relationships of the subtribe Mastogeniina LeConte & Horn. African Entomology 4(2): 137–142.

  10. Bellamy C. L. 2002. The Mastogenius Solier, 1849 of North America (Coleoptera: Buprestidae: Polycestinae: Haplostethini). Zootaxa 110(1): 1–12.

  11. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.110.1.1

  12. Bellamy C. L. 2003. An illustrated summary of the higher classification of the superfamily Buprestoidea (Coleoptera). Folia Heyrovskyana, Supplementum 10: 1–197.

  13. Bellamy C. L. 2008. A World Catalogue and Bibliography of the Jewel Beetles (Coleoptera: Buprestoidea). Vol. 1. Introduction; Fossil Taxa; Schizopodidae; Buprestidae: Julodinae—Chrysochroinae: Poecilonotini. Pensoft Series Faunistica No. 76. Pensoft Publishers, Sofia-Moscow, 625 pp.

  14. Bellamy C. L. & Nelson G. H. 2002. Chapter 41. Buprestidae Leach 1815, pp. 98–112. In: American Beetles, Volume 2 (R.H. Arnett, Jr., M.C. Thomas, P.E. Skelley and J.H. Frank, editors), CRC Press, Boca Raton, xvi + 861 pp.

  15. Blatchley W. S. 1919. Some new or scarce Coleoptera from Western or Southern Florida—II. The Canadian Entomologist 51(2): 28–32.

  16. https://doi.org/10.4039/Ent5128-2

  17. Bogri A., Solodovnikov A. & Żyła D. 2018. Baltic amber impact on historical biogeography and palaeoclimate research: Oriental rove beetle Dysanabatium found in the Eocene of Europe (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Paederinae). Papers in Palaeontology 4(3): 433–452.

  18. https://doi.org/10.1002/spp2.1113

  19. Bouchard P., Bousquet Y., Davies A. E. & Cai C. 2024. On the nomenclatural status of type genera in Coleoptera (Insecta). ZooKeys 1194: 1–981.

  20. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1194.106440

  21. Brunke A. J., Chatzimanolis S., Metscher B. D., Wolf-Schwenninger K. & Solodovnikov A. 2017. Dispersal of thermophilic beetles across the intercontinental Arctic forest belt during the early Eocene. Scientific Reports 7: 12972.

  22. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-13207-4

  23. Brunke J. A., Żyła D., Yamamoto S. & Solodovnikov A. 2019. Baltic amber Staphylinini (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Staphylininae): a rove beetle fauna on the eve of our modern climate. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 187(1): 166–197.

  24. https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlz021

  25. Bukejs A., Alekseev V. & Kairišs K. 2021. The first record of Cupedidae (Coleoptera: Archostemata) from Eocene Rovno amber: Cupes groehni Kirejtshuk, 2005 examined using X-ray microtomography. Baltic Journal of Coleopterology 21(2): 111–116.

  26. Cai C., Tihelka E., Giacomelli M., Lawrence J. F., Ślipiński A., Kundrata R., Yamamoto S., Thayer M. K., Newton A. F., Leschen R. A. B., Gimmel M. L., Lü L., Engel M. S., Bouchard P., Huang D., Pisani D. & Donoghue P. C. J. 2022. Integrated phylogenomics and fossil data illuminate the evolution of beetles. Royal Society Open Science 9(3): 211771.

  27. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.211771

  28. Chamberlin W. J. 1926. Catalogue of the Buprestidae of North America north of Mexico. W.J. Chamberlin, Corvallis, Oregon, 289 pp. + 1 page index.

  29. Cobos A. 1957. Un género y dos nuevas especies de Buprestidae de Nueva Guinea. The Coleopterists Bulletin 10(6): 91–96.

  30. Cobos A. 1980. Ensayo sobre los géneros de la subfamilia Polycestinae (Coleoptera, Buprestidae) (Parte I). EOS, Revista Española de Entomología 54: 15–94.

  31. Cobos A. 1981a. Estudios sobre la subfamilia Msatogeniinae (Coleoptera: Buprestidae). Boletin de Entomologia Venezolana 1(6): 71–86.

  32. Cobos A. 1981b. Ensayo sobre los géneros de la subfamilia Polycestinae (Coleoptera, Buprestidae) (Parte II). EOS, Revista Española de Entomología 55–56: 23–94.

  33. Evans A. M., Mckenna D. D., Bellamy C. L. & Farrell B. D. 2015. Large‐scale molecular phylogeny of metallic wood‐boring beetles (Coleoptera: Buprestoidea) provides new insights into relationships and reveals multiple evolutionary origins of the larval leaf‐mining habit. Systematic Entomology 40(2): 385–400.

  34. https://doi.org/10.1111/syen.12108

  35. Ferro M. L. & Gimmel M. L. 2014. Season of fine woody debris death affects colonization of saproxylic Coleoptera. The Coleopterists Bulletin 68(4): 681–685.

  36. Hespenheide H. A. 1974. Notes on the ecology, distribution, and taxonomy of certain Buprestidae. The Coleopterists Bulletin 27(4): 183–186.

  37. Jendek E. 2024. A statistical overview of the research history of the superfamily Buprestoidea (Coleoptera). Journal of Insect Biodiversity 45(2): 28–40.

  38. https://doi.org/10.12976/jib/2024.45.2.1

  39. Jendek E. & Poláková J. 2014. Host Plants of World Agrilus (Coleoptera, Buprestidae). A Critical Review. Springer, Dordrecht, lvii + 706 pp. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08410-7

  40. Jiang R., Song H., Zhang H. & Wang S. 2021. Burmagrilus cretacus gen. et sp. nov., the first Buprestidae from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber. Cretaceous Research 125: 104866.

  41. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2021.104866

  42. Kamezawa H. & Matoba I. 2020. [Domestic distribution and additional records from Wakayama Prefecture of Mastogenius insperatus Kurosawa, 1972]. Kinokuni 97: 1–3. [In Japanese]

  43. Kirejtshuk A. G. 2005. A revision of the genus Cupes Fabricius, 1801 from Baltic amber and some notes on taxonomy and composition of the family Cupedidae (Coleoptera, Archostemata). Mitteilungen aus dem Geologisch-Paläontologischen Institut an der Universität Hamburg 89: 55–84.

  44. Kirejtshuk A. G. 2020. Taxonomic review of fossil coleopterous families (Insecta, Coleoptera). Suborder Archostemata: superfamilies Coleopseoidea and Cupedoidea. Geosciences 10(2): 73.

  45. https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences10020073

  46. Kirejtshuk A. G. 2025. Taxonomic notes on fossils of the subfamily Atractocerinae (Coleoptera: Lymexylidae) with description of a new species from Eocene Baltic amber and proposal of three new genera for fossil lymexylids. Zootaxa 5715(1): 204–217.

  47. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5715.1.18

  48. Kirejtshuk A. G., Nel A. & Kirejtshuk P. A. 2016. Taxonomy of the reticulate beetles of the subfamily Cupedinae (Coleoptera: Archostemata), with a review of the historical development. Invertebrate Zoology 13(2): 61–190.

  49. https://doi.org/10.15298/invertzool.13.2.01

  50. Kirk V. M. 1969. A list of the beetles of South Carolina. Part 1. Northern Coastal Plain. South Carolina Agricultural Experiment Statio, Clemson University, Technical Bulletin 1033: 1–124.

  51. Kissinger D. G. 1955. New distribution and habitat records of N.A. Coleoptera. The Coleopterists Bulletin 9(1): 13–15.

  52. Knull J. N. 1922. Annotated list of the Buprestidae of Pennsylvania (Coleoptera). The Canadian Entomologist 54(4): 79–86.

  53. https://doi.org/10.4039/Ent5479-4

  54. Knull J. N. 1974. A new species of Acmaeodera, with notes on other species of Buprestidae (Coleoptera). The Coleopterists Bulletin 28(3): 143–144.

  55. Kwast T. & Alekseev V. 2025. A new buprestid beetle from Eocene Baltic amber (Coleoptera: Buprestidae: Melanophilini). Palaeoentomology 8(1): 73–79.

  56. https://doi.org/10.11646/palaeoentomology.8.1.8

  57. Lawrence J. F. & Ślipiński A. 2013. Australian Beetles; Morphology, Classification and Keys. Vol. 1. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, viii + 561 pp.

  58. https://doi.org/10.1071/9780643097292

  59. Levey B. 2016. Two new species of Ankareus Kerremans (Coleoptera: Buprestidae: Haplostethinae) from southern Africa. Zootaxa 4147(5): 575–582.

  60. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4147.5.5

  61. Li Y.-D., Volkovitsh M. G., Song H.-T., Huang D.-Y. & Cai C.-Y. 2023. Dictyorachys gen. nov., an enigmatic genus of jewel beetles from mid-Cretaceous amber of northern Myanmar (Coleoptera: Buprestidae). Bulletin of Geosciences 98(2): 161–169.

  62. https://doi.org/10.3140/bull.geosci.1875

  63. Lugger O. 1884. Food-plants of beetles bred in Maryland. Psyche 4: 203–204.

  64. MacRae T. C. 2003. Mastogenius guayllabambensis MacRae, a new species from Ecuador (Coleoptera: Buprestidae: Haplostethini). The Coleopterists Bulletin 57(2): 149–153.

  65. https://doi.org/10.1649/0010-065X(2003)057[0149:MGMANS]2.0.CO;2

  66. MacRae T. C. 2006. Distributional and biological notes on North Amerian Buprestidae (Coleoptera), with comments on variation in Anthaxia (Haplanthaxia) cyanella Gory and A. (H.) viridifrons Gory. The Pan-Pacific Entomologist 82(2): 166–199.

  67. MacRae T. C. & Basham J. P. 2013. Distributional, biological, and nomenclatural notes on Buprestidae (Coleoptera) occurring in the U.S. and Canada. The Pan-Pacific Entomologist 89(3): 125–142.

  68. https://doi.org/10.3956/2013-12.1

  69. MacRae T. C. & Basham J. P. 2024. Further distributional and biological notes on Buprestidae (Coleoptera) in Canada and the United States, with exclusion of two species previously reported in North America. The Pan-Pacific Entomologist 100(3): 217–245.

  70. https://doi.org/10.3956/2024-100.3.217

  71. MacRae T. C. & Nelson G. H. 2003. Distributional and biological notes on Buprestidae (Coleoptera) in North and Central America and the West Indies, with validation of one species. The Coleopterists Bulletin 57(1): 57–70.

  72. Makihara H. 1989. [On the food plant of Mastogenius inspelatus Kurosawa, 1972]. Gekkan-Mushi 230: 36. [In Japanese]

  73. Manley G. V. 1986a. Mastogenius Sol. (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) of Ecuador and Peru west of the Andean Mountains with descriptions of five new species. The Coleopterists Bulletin 40(3): 223–231.

  74. Manley G. V. 1986b. A new genus and three new species of buprestid beetles (Coleoptera: Buprestidae: Mastogeniini) from northern South America. The Coleopterists Bulletin 40(3): 232–241.

  75. Moore R. T. 1994. Un nuevo Mastogenius para Chile (Coleoptera: Buprestidae). Revista Chilena de Entomología 21: 121–123.

  76. Moore R. T. 1998. Descripcion de una quinta especie nueva para Chile del genero Mastogenius Solier: M. lizaleriae n. sp. (Coleoptera: Buprestidae). Gayana Zoología 62(1): 61–63.

  77. Moore R. T. & Vidal P. G-H. 2015. Los Bupréstidos de Chile. Ediciones Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, 398 pp.

  78. Nelson G. H. 1965. Notes on the Buprestidae: part IV, with a new synonym in Chrysobothris. Bulletin of the Brooklyn Entomological Society 59-60: 37–41.

  79. Nelson G. H. 1987. Additional notes on the biology and distribution of Buprestidae (Coleoptera) in North America, II. The Coleopterists Bulletin 41(1): 57–65.

  80. Nelson G. H. & Bellamy C. L. 1991. A revision and phylogenetic re-evaluation of the family Schizopodidae (Coleoptera, Buprestidae). Journal of Natural History 25(4): 985–1026.

  81. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222939100770651

  82. Nelson G. H. & Bellamy C. L. 2002. Chapter 40. Schizopodidae LeConte 1861, pp. 95–97. In: American Beetles, Volume 2 (R.H. Arnett, Jr., M.C. Thomas, P.E. Skelley and J.H. Frank, editors), CRC Press, Boca Raton, xvi + 861 pp.

  83. Nelson G. H., Westcott R. L. & MacRae T. C. 1996. Miscellaneous notes on Buprestidae and Schizopodidae occurring in the United States and Canada, including descriptions of previously unknown sexes of six Agrilus Curtis (Coleoptera). The Coleopterists Bulletin 50(2): 183–191.

  84. Nelson G. H., Walters G. C., Jr., Haines R. D. & Bellamy C. L. 2008. A catalog and bibliography of the Buprestoidea of America North of Mexico. The Coleopterists Society, Special Publication No. 4, pp. iv + 1–274.

  85. Obenberger J. 1957. Eine neue Buprestidenart aus dem baltischen Bernstein nebst Bemerkungen über einige fossile Buprestiden (Coleoptera: Buprestidae). Beiträge zur Entomologie 7(3–4): 308–316.

  86. https://doi.org/10.21248/contrib.entomol.7.3-4.308-316

  87. Paiero S. M., Jackson M. D., Kimoto T., Gill B. D. & Marshall S. A. 2012. Field Guide to the Jewel Beetles (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) of Northern North America. Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Ottawa, ON, 411 pp.

  88. Pellegrino I., Curletti G., Liberatore F. & Cucco M. 2017. Cryptic diversity of the jewel beetles Agrilus viridis (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) hosted on hazelnut. The European Zoological Journal 84(1): 465–472.

  89. https://doi.org/10.1080/24750263.2017.1362050

  90. Ross A. J., Bojarski B. & Szwedo J. 2026. A critical review of the age of Baltic amber from the Samland Peninsula, Russia. Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh: 1–14.

  91. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1755691025100960

  92. Schaeffer C. 1905. Some additional new genera and species of Coleoptera found within the limit of the United States. The Museum of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, Science Bulletin 1(7):141–179.

  93. Shavrin A. V. & Yamamoto S. 2019. Unexpected palaeodiversity of omaliine rove beetles in Eocene Baltic amber (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Omaliinae). ZooKeys 863: 35–83.

  94. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.863.34662

  95. Tamadera Y. 2025. New or little-known jewel beetles on mistletoe, Taxillus Tiegh. (Loranthaceae), in Japan: Unusual morphology and biology in Habroloma Thomson, 1864 (Coleoptera: Buprestidae). Zootaxa 5725(1): 55–88.

  96. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5725.1.2

  97. Tôyama M. 1983. The buprestid beetles of the subfamily Mastogeniinae from the Oriental Region (Coleoptera, Buprestidae). Entomological Review of Japan 38(1): 55–64.

  98. Volkovitsh M. G. 2016. Subfamily Polycestinae Lacordaire, 1857, pp. 438–455. In: Catalogue of Palaearctic Coleoptera, 3. Revised and updated edition. Scarabaeoidea, Scirtoidea, Dascilloidea, Buprestoidea and Byrrhoidea (I. Löbl and D. Löbl, editors). Brill, Leiden / Boston, 983 pp.

  99. Walters G. C., Jr. & Bellamy C. L. 1990. Notes on the distribution and biology of certain Buprestidae (Coleoptera): Part IV. The Coleopterists Bulletin 44(1): 113–115.

  100. Westcott R. L. 1990. A new synonym in Mastogenius Solier (Coleoptera: Buprestidae). The Pan-Pacific Entomologist 66(3): 256–257.

  101. Westcott R. L. 2005. Two new species of Acmaeodera Eschscholtz and two new species of Mastogenius Solier (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) from Mexico. Folia Entomologica Mexicana 44(Suppl. 1): 35–43.

  102. Woodley N. E. 2024. Two new species of Agrilus Curtis from Arizona with some new distributional and host records of buprestids from the Southwest USA (Coleoptera: Buprestidae). Insecta Mundi 1075: 1–11.

  103. Yamamoto S. 2019. Fossil evidence of elytra reduction in ship-timber beetles. Scientific Reports 9: 4938.

  104. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-41310-1

  105. Yamamoto S. 2024. A new fossil species of the reticulated beetle genus Cupes (Coleoptera: Archostemata: Cupedidae) from Eocene Baltic amber. Zootaxa 5432(4): 451–460.

  106. https://doi.org/10.11646/ZOOTAXA.5432.4.1

  107. Yamamoto S., Nazarenko V. Y., Vasilenko D. V. & Perkovsky E. E. 2022. First fossil species of ship-timber beetles (Coleoptera, Lymexylidae) from Eocene Rovno amber (Ukraine). Fossil Record 25(1): 65–74.

  108. https://doi.org/10.3897/fr.25.81054