Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Responsive image
Issue: Vol. 1 No. 3: September 2024
Type: Article
Published: 2024-09-26
DOI: 10.11646/mesozoic.1.3.10
Page range: 298-308
Abstract views: 440
PDF downloaded: 122

Cretabaltoraea volsella gen. et sp. nov. (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae) from Cretaceous Kachin amber and its relationship with Eocene Baltoraea (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae)

Institut Botànic de Barcelona (CSIC-CMCNB), 08038 Barcelona, Spain
Department of Entomology, National Museum, 14800 Prague, Czech Republic
Department of Biology and Biotechnologies “C. Darwin”, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy
College of Agriculture, Yangtze University, Jingzhou, 434025 Hubei, China
State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, and Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 210008 Nanjing, China
State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, and Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 210008 Nanjing, China
Bonn Institute of Organismic Biology, Section Paleontology, University of Bonn, 53115 Bonn, Germany
HeiKa Graduate School on “Functional Materials”, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany; Centre for Organismal Studies, Universität Heidelberg, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
Department of Biology and Biotechnologies “C. Darwin”, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy
Coleoptera Nitidulidae Burmese amber evolution fossil Myanmar Pinaceae pollination

Abstract

Here we describe Cretabaltoraea volsella Peris, Jelínek & Audisio gen. et sp. nov. of the family Nitidulidae (Coleoptera). As implied by its generic name, the new species is described after a fossil specimen preserved in the Upper Cretaceous Kachin amber from northern Myanmar. This new species is rather similar to the two fossil nitidulid species of Baltoraea Kurochkin & Kirejtshuk, 2010, previously described from the Eocene Baltic amber. The comparison between this group of fossils and the study of Baltoraea simillima Kurochkin & Kirejtshuk, 2010 using CT-scanning suggest that Cretabaltoraea volsella gen. et sp. nov. and the two Baltoraea species should be placed in the extinct Apophisandrinae, a basal subfamily of Nitidulidae which until now only includes a group of Cretaceous fossils from the Kachin amber, described as ancient pollinators of both gymnosperms and basal angiosperms.

References

  1. Asar, Y., Ho, S. Y.W. & Sauquet, H. (2022) Early diversifications of angiosperms and their insect pollinators: were they unlinked? Trends in Plant Science, 27, 858–869. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tplants.2022.04.004
  2. Audisio, P. (1993) Coleoptera, Nitidulidae—Kateretidae. Fauna d’Italia, Vol. 32. Edizioni Calderini, Bologna, 971 pp.
  3. Audisio, P., Alonso-Zarazaga, M.A., Slipinski, A., Nilsson, A., Jelínek, J., Vigna Taglianti, A., Turco, F., Otero, C., Canepari, C., Kral, D., Liberti, G., Sama, G., Nardi, G.L., Loebl, I., Horak, J., Kolibac, J., Hava, J., Sapiejewski, M., Jäch, M., Bologna, M.A., Biondi, M., Nikitsky, N.B., Mazzoldi, P., Zahradnik, P., Wegrzynowicz, P., Constantin, R., Gerstmeier, R., Zhantiev, R., Fattorini, S., Tomaszewska, W., Rücker, W.H., Vazquez-Albalate, X., Cassola, F., Angelini, F., Johnson, C., Schawaller, W., Regalin, R., Baviera, C., Rocchi, S., Cianferoni, F., Beenen, R., Schmitt, M., Sassi, D., Kippenberg, H., Zampetti, M.F., Trizzino, M., Chiari, S., Carpaneto, G.M., Sabatelli, S. & De Yong, Y. (2015) Fauna Europaea—Coleoptera 2 (excl. Series Elateriformia, Scarabaeiformia, Staphyliniformia and superfamily Curculionoidea). Biodiversity Data Journal, 3, e4750. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.3.e4750
  4. Benton, M.J., Wilf, P. & Sauquet, H. (2022) The Angiosperm Terrestrial Revolution and the origins of modern biodiversity. New Phytologist, 233, 2017–2035. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.17822
  5. Cai, C.Y., Tihelka, E., Giacomelli, M., Lawrence, J.F., Slipinski, A., Kundrata, R., Yamamoto, S., Thayer, M.K., Newton, A.F., Leschen, R.A.B., Gimmel, M.L., Engel, M.S., Bouchard, P., Huang, D.Y., Pisani, D. & Donoghue, P.C.J. (2022) Integrated phylogenomics and fossil data illuminate the evolution of beetles. Royal Society Open Science, 9, 211771. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.211771
  6. Chen, X. (2019) A new genus and species of Lymexylidae (Insecta: Coleoptera) from mid-Cretaceous amber of northern Myanmar. Paleontological Journal, 53, 1203–1205. https://doi.org/10.1134/S003103011911008X
  7. Cline, A.R., Smith, T.R., Miller, K., Moulton, M., Whiting, M. & Audisio, P. (2014) Molecular phylogeny of Nitidulidae: Assessment of subfamilial and tribal classification and formalization of the family Cybocephalidae (Coleoptera: Cucujoidea). Systematic Entomology, 39, 758–772. https://doi.org/10.1111/syen.12084
  8. Cruickshank, R.D. & Ko, K. (2003) Geology of an amber locality in the Hukawng Valley, northern Myanmar. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 21, 441–455. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1367-9120(02)00044-5
  9. De Marzo, L. & Porcelli, F. (1989) Dettagli strutturali dei chemiorecettori antennali in Carpophilus hemipterus (L.) e C. humeralis (F.) (Coleoptera, Nitidulidae). Entomologica, Bari, 24, 151–161.
  10. Gillogly L.R. (1947) A sensillum in Carpophilus and Haptoncus (Coleoptera, Nitidulidae). Pan Pacific Entomologist, 23, 134–136.
  11. Gillogly L.R. (1962) Coleoptera: Nitidulidae. In: Insects of Micronesia (Bernice P. Bishop Museum, Honolulu), 16, 4, 133–188.
  12. Hadley, A. (2010) Combine ZP software, new version. Available from: http://www.hadleyweb.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/CZP/News.htm (04/06/2024).
  13. Jelínek, J. & Cline, A.R. (2010) Kateretidae Erichson in Agassiz, 1846. In: Leschen, R.A.B., Beutel, R.G. & Lawrence, J.F. (Eds), Coleoptera, Beetles. Volume 2: Morphology and systematics (Elateroidea, Bostrichiformia, Cucujiformia partim), pp. 386–390. In: Kristensen, N.P. & Beutel, R.G. (Eds), Handbook of zoology. A natural history of the phyla of the animal kingdom. Volume IV. Arthropoda: Insecta. Part 38. Berlin, New York, Walter de Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110911213.386
  14. Jelínek, J., Carlton, C., Cline, A.R. & Leschen, R.A.B. (2010) Nitidulidae Latreille, 1802. In: Leschen, R.A.B., Beutel, R.G. & Lawrence, J.F. (Eds), Coleoptera, Beetles. Volume 2: Morphology and systematics (Elateroidea, Bostrichiformia, Cucujiformia partim), pp. 390–407. In: Kristensen, N.P. & Beutel, R.G. (Eds), Handbook of zoology. A natural history of the phyla of the animal kingdom. Volume IV. Arthropoda: Insecta. Part 38. Berlin, New York, Walter de Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110911213.390
  15. Kirejtshuk, A.G. & Bukejs, A. (2023) A new species of Melipriopsis Kirejtshuk, 2011 (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae: Meligethinae) from the Eocene Baltic amber. Zootaxa, 5230, 238–244. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5230.2.7
  16. Kirejtshuk, A.G., Jenkins Shaw, J. & Smirnov, I.S. (2023) A new subgenus of the genus Phenolia (Coleoptera, Nitidulidae) from Myanmar Cretaceous amber with taxonomic, phylogenetic and bionomic notes on the ‘nitidulid’ group of families. Insects, 14, 647. https://doi.org/10.3390/insects14070647
  17. Kirejtshuk, A.G. & Ponomarenko, A.G. (1990) Fossil beetles of the families Peltidae and Nitidulidae. Paleontological Journal, 2, 78–88.
  18. Kurochkin, A.S. & Kirejtshuk, A.G. (2010) New species of sap beetles (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae: Epuraeinae, Cybocephalinae) from the Baltic amber. Paleontological Journal, 44, 534–545. https://doi.org/10.1134/S0031030110050084
  19. Latreille, P.A. (1802) Histoire naturelle des fourmis, et recueil de mémoires et d’observations sur les abeilles, les araignées, les faucheurs, et autres insects. Paris, Barrois, 445 pp.
  20. Lee, M.H., Lee, S., Leschen, R.A.B. & Lee, S. (2020) Evolution of feeding habits of sap beetles (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae) and placement of Calonecrinae. Systematic Entomology, 45, 911–923. https://doi.org/10.1111/syen.12441
  21. Li, Y.D., Peris, D., Yamamoto, S., Hsiao, Y., Newton, A.F. & Cai, C.Y. (2022) Revisiting the Raractocetus fossils from Mesozoic and Cenozoic amber deposits (Coleoptera: Lymexylidae). Insects, 13 (9), 768. https://doi.org/10.3390/insects13090768
  22. Linnaeus, C. (1758) Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis, 10th revise. Holmiae, Stockholm, Laurentius Salvius, 824 pp. [In Latin] https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.542
  23. Luo, C., Beutel, R.G., Engel, M. S., Liang, K., Li, L., Li, J., Xu, C., Vršanský, P., Jarzembowski, E.A. & Wang, B. (2021) Life history and evolution of the enigmatic Cretaceous–Eocene Alienopteridae: A critical review. Earth-Science Reviews, 225, 103914. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2021.103914
  24. Majka, C.G., Webster, R. & Cline, A.R. (2008) New records of Nitidulidae and Kateretidae (Coleoptera) from New Brunswick, Canada. ZooKeys, 2, 337–356. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.2.23
  25. Mao, Y.Y., Liang, K., Su, Y.T., Li, J.G., Rao, X., Zhang, H., Xia, F.Y., Fu, Y.Z., Cai, C.Y. & Huang, D.Y. (2018) Various amberground marine animals on Burmese amber with discussions on its age. Palaeoentomology, 1 (1), 91–103. https://doi.org/10.11646/palaeoentomology.1.1.11
  26. Molino-Olmedo, F. (2017) Descripción de Apophisandra ammytae gen. et n. sp. del ámbar cretácico de Myanmar con proposición de Apophisandrini tribus nov. (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae, Parandrinae). Lambillionea, 67, 169–174.
  27. Peris, D. & Condamine, F.L. (2024) The angiosperm radiation played a dual role in the diversification of insects and insect pollinators. Nature Communications, 15, 552. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-44784-4
  28. Peris, D., Jelínek, J., Sabatelli, S., Liu, M., Peña-Kairath, C., Zhao, Q., Cai, C., Kairišs, K., Mähler, B., Rühr, P.T., Hammel, J.U. & Audisio, P. (2024) The most diverse group of pollinating beetles from the Cretaceous were an extinct lineage of archaic sap beetles (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae). Palaeoentomology, in press.
  29. Peris, D., Kundrata, R., Delclòs, X., Mähler, B., Ivie, M.A., Rust, J. & Labandeira, C.C. (2020b) Unlocking the mystery of the mid-Cretaceous Mysteriomorphidae (Coleoptera: Elateroidea) and modalities in transiting from gymnosperms to angiosperms. Scientific Reports, 10, 16854. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-73724-7
  30. Peris, D., Labandeira, C.C., Barrón, E., Delclòs, X., Rust, J. & Wang, B. (2020a) Generalist pollen-feeding beetles during the mid-Cretaceous. iScience, 23, 100913. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2020.100913
  31. Peris, D., Pérez-de la Fuente, R., Peñalver, E., Delclòs, X., Barrón, E. & Labandeira, C.C. (2017) False blister beetles and the expansion of gymnosperm-insect pollination modes before angiosperm dominance. Current Biology, 27, 897–904. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2017.02.009
  32. Peña-Kairath, C., Delclòs, X., Álvarez-Parra, S., Peñalver, E., Engel, M.S., Ollerton, J. & Peris, D. (2023) Insect pollination in deep time. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 38, 749–759. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2023.03.008
  33. Renner, S.S. (2023) A time tree for the evolution of insect, vertebrate, wind, and water pollination in the angiosperms. New Phytologist, 240, 464–465. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.19201
  34. Ross, A. (2024) Complete checklist of Burmese (Myanmar) amber taxa 2023. Mesozoic, 1, 21–57. https://doi.org/10.11646/mesozoic.1.1.4
  35. Shi, G., Grimaldi, D.A., Harlow, G.E., Wang, J., Wang, J.Y.M., Lei, W., Li, Q. & Li, X. (2012) Age constraint on Burmese amber based on U-Pb dating of zircons. Cretaceous Research, 37, 155–163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2012.03.014
  36. Stephens, R.E., Gallagher, R.V., Dun, L., Cornwell, W. & Sauquet, H. (2023) Insect pollination for most of angiosperm evolutionary history. New Phytologist, 240, 880–891. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.18993
  37. Tihelka, E., Li, L., Fu, Y., Su, Y., Huang, D. & Cai, C. (2021) Angiosperm pollinivory in a Cretaceous beetle. Nature Plants, 7, 445–451. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-021-00893-2
  38. Utescher, T. & Mosbrugger, V. (2007) Eocene vegetation patterns reconstructed from plant diversity—a global perspective. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 247, 243–271. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2006.10.022
  39. Wolfe, A.P., McKellar, R.C., Tappert, R., Sodhi, R. & Muehlenbachs, K. (2016) Bitterfeld amber is not Baltic amber: Three geochemical tests and further constraints on the botanical affinities of succinite. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 225, 21–32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.revpalbo.2015.11.002
  40. Zheng, D., Chang, S.C., Perrichot, V., Dutta, S., Rudra, A., Mu, L., Kelly, R. S., Li, S., Zhang, Q., Zhang, Q., Wong, J., Wang, J., Wang, H., Fang, Y., Zhang, H. & Wang, B. (2018) A Late Cretaceous amber biota from central Myanmar. Nature Communications, 9, 3170. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-05650-2