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Issue: Vol. 9 No. 1: February 2026
Type: Article
Published: 2026-02-25
DOI: 10.11646/palaeoentomology.9.1.11
Page range: 99-108
Abstract views: 87
PDF downloaded: 75

A group of wax-bearing coccomorphans preserved together with a rove beetle and an aphidlion-like larva represents a possible case of predator-prey interaction in 100 million years old Kachin amber

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Biocenter, Großhaderner Str. 2, 82152 Planegg-Martinsried, Germany; GeoBio-Center at LMU, Richard-Wagner-Str. 10, 80333 München, Germany
State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Biocenter, Großhaderner Str. 2, 82152 Planegg-Martinsried, Germany; Bavarian State Collection for Zoology, Bavarian Natural History Collections, Münchhausenstr. 21, 81247 München, Germany
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Biocenter, Großhaderner Str. 2, 82152 Planegg-Martinsried, Germany; GeoBio-Center at LMU, Richard-Wagner-Str. 10, 80333 München, Germany
Neuroptera Staphylinidae Coccomorpha Burmese amber Cretaceous

Abstract

We here report an amber piece from Kachin amber, Myanmar, Cretaceous, about 100 million years old. It includes a group of 17 immatures of coccomorphans (scale insects) displaying wax, most likely for defensive purposes. In the same piece we found two possible predators of the coccomorphans: an adult rove beetle and an aphidlion-like larva with a fully assembled camouflaging cloak. Both possible predators are positioned very close to some of the coccomorphans, and no separate flows of amber seem to separate them. It therefore seems likely that this is a case of predators preserved together with their prey. Such cases of predator-prey interaction are still rare in amber, while other interactions, such as mating or parasitism, have been increasingly reported. A comparable case of aphids preserved together with an aphidlion has so far only been known from significantly younger Baltic amber. The here reported case seems to be the first one in which an aphidlion-like larva is preserved together with potential prey in Kachin amber, although quite a large number of such larvae have already been reported.

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