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Issue: Vol. 8 No. 5: October 2025
Type: Article
Published: 2025-10-31
DOI: 10.11646/palaeoentomology.8.5.9
Page range: 520-537
Abstract views: 49
PDF downloaded: 3

Thripidae and Melanthripidae from the mid-Cretaceous (Insecta: Thysanoptera)

Early Life Evolution Laboratory, China University of Geosciences, Beijing 100083, China; College of Life Sciences, Capital Normal University, Beijing 100048, China
Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY 10024-5192, USA
College of Life Sciences, Capital Normal University, Beijing 100048, China; Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013-7012, USA
College of Life Sciences, Capital Normal University, Beijing 100048, China
College of Life Sciences, Capital Normal University, Beijing 100048, China
Cenomanian thrips Kachin amber mesozoic insect fossils Insecta Thysanoptera

Abstract

The thrips diversity preserved in Kachin amber is remarkably high, with numerous new species awaiting discovery. In this paper, two new species of Thripidae: Euthythrips longialatus gen. et sp. nov. and Minythrips exquisitus gen. et sp. nov., plus five new species of Melanthripidae: Aspistothrips fortis gen. et sp. nov., Aspistothrips decorus sp. nov., Areiothrips bellator gen. et sp. nov., Charismathrips longiantennatus gen. et sp. nov., Charismathrips exaridus sp. nov., are systematically described, expanding the fossil record of Thysanoptera from Kachin amber. Through comparative morphological analyses of fossil taxa, we propose that two characters likely represent plesiomorphic traits of Thysanoptera: nine antennomeres and duplicated cilia arranged parallel to regular fringe cilia. By synthesizing existing research on thrips environmental interactions, this study briefly analyzes the adaptive evolution of thrips during floral ecosystem turnover.

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