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Issue: Vol. 9 No. 2: 29 Apr. 2026
Type: Article
Published: 2026-04-29
DOI: 10.11646/palaeoentomology.9.2.5
Page range: 125-138
Abstract views: 174
PDF downloaded: 92

Cretolala kachinensis gen. et sp. nov. (Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha: Delphacoidea), the first lalacid from mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber: morphological and taphonomic implications

Yunnan Key Laboratory for Palaeobiology, Institute of Palaeontology, Yunnan University, South Waihuan Road, Chenggong District, Kunming 650500, China, MEC International Joint Laboratory for Palaeobiology and Palaeoenvironment, Yunnan University, Kunming 650500, China, Bonn Institute for Organismic Biology (BIOB), Department for Paleontology, University of Bonn, Bonn 53115, Germany
Institute of Rock Structure and Mechanics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, V Holešovičkách 41, 18200, Prague, Czech Republic
Institute of Physiology II, University Hospital Bonn, University of Bonn, 53115 Bonn, Germany
Institut de Systématique, Évolution, Biodiversité (UMR 7205), Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, EPHE-PSL, Université des Antilles, Paris F-75005, France
The Steinhardt Museum of Natural History and The New Environmental School, Tel Aviv University, 69978 Tel Aviv, Israel
Bonn Institute for Organismic Biology (BIOB), Department for Paleontology, University of Bonn, Bonn 53115, Germany
Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen 1350, Denmark, Institute of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland
Department of Geological Survey and Mineral Exploration, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation, Myanmar Gems Museum, Nay Pyi Taw 15011, Myanmar
State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 21008, China
Oxford University Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PW, UK
Institute of Geosciences, University of Bonn, Bonn 53115, Germany
Laboratory of Evolutionary Entomology and Museum of Amber Inclusions, Department of Invertebrate Zoology and Parasitology, University of Gdańsk, Gdańsk, PL80–308, Poland
Bonn Institute for Organismic Biology (BIOB), Department for Paleontology, University of Bonn, Bonn 53115, Germany, State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 21008, China, Institute of Geology and Paleontology, Charles University, Prague 12843, Czech Republic
Hemiptera Fulgoromorpha Delphacoidea Mesozoic Burmese amber Planthopper taxonomy taphonomy mineral infilling wing maculation

Abstract

We report Cretolala kachinensis gen. et sp. nov., the first formally described representative of the family Lalacidae from mid-Cretaceous (~99 Ma) Kachin amber. The morphology and taphonomy of the specimen were studied using optical microscopy, micro-computed tomography (micro-CT), confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM), and scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM‒EDS). Cretolala kachinensis gen. et sp. nov. exhibits a unique combination of forewing characters, including a strengthened, broad, and wrinkled costal margin; ScP+R fork proximal to both the Pcu+A1 fusion and the CuA fork; MP with five terminals; and CuA1 and CuA2 each with two terminals. Crossvein patterns differ between the left and right forewings, indicating that crossvein expression alone is not diagnostic. The forewing bears distinct maculation, with a face-like pattern dorsally and an extensive lateral pattern that may indicate aposematism, mimicry, or plant-like camouflage in an arboreal herbivore. Taphonomic analyses based on optical micrographs and material-dependent X-ray attenuation in micro-CT show that minerals are distributed throughout the fossil, coating anatomical surfaces and infilling pre-existing cavities and voids. These phases help stabilize morphology and influence the micro-CT reconstruction of soft-bodied structures. SEM–EDS analyses indicate that the body-coating and void-filling minerals are dominated by quartz and pyrite, with feldspars and aluminosilicate mixtures also present, locally enriched in K, Na, Mg, or Ca. This assemblage and its textures point to a polyphase paragenetic sequence, with early detrital infill and later authigenic mineralization. Our results suggest that minerals and some chemicals derived from the host sediments can be transported into and, in some cases, precipitated within amber inclusions, infilling voids and providing structural support that influences fossil preservation. Collectively, these phases occlude porosity, stabilize morphology, and enhance X-ray contrast, although they locally obscured primary tissue boundaries. Our results highlight multistage diagenesis in Kachin amber and underscore variability among inclusions in both mineral assemblages and the timing of mineralization/diagenetic events.

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