Palaeoentomology

Description of two new species of Dirhagini (Coleoptera, Eucnemidae, Melasinae) from Myanmar amber

XIN-YU HAN, JYRKI MUONA, YAN-CHEN ZHAO, DONG REN — Sat, 29 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +1200

Two new species of Dirhagini are described from Cretaceous Myanmar amber: Cenomana grandis sp. nov. and Protomicrorhagus latus sp. nov. Based on the new specimen, the diagnosis of the genus Protomicrorhagus Muona, 2020 is revised, and Protomicrorhagus brevis Muona, 2020 is re-described. An identification key to all Dirhagini species from Myanmar amber is provided. Prothoracic structures of Cretaceous and modern Dirhagini species are discussed.

Late is not too late: redescriptions of some Carboniferous insects from Western Europe studied by Daniel Laurentiaux (Palaeodictyoptera, Paoliida)

ANDRÉ NEL, HEMEN SENDI, NINON ROBIN, BERNARD DELCAMBRE, BERNARD MOTTEQUIN — Sat, 29 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +1200

Professor Daniel Laurentiaux studied in his state thesis several Carboniferous (Bashkirian—Moscovian) insects from Belgium and Germany, but these were never formally described except in his doctoral thesis. Among the Palaeodictyoptera, we redescribe the spilapterid Spilapterina nigra, the dictyoneurid Arltia occidentalis, and we discuss the graphiptilid Patteiskya bouckaerti Laurentiaux, 1958b. We also redescribe the paoliid Parafouquea belgica.

A new sawfly from the Paleocene of Menat (Hymenoptera: Tenthredinidae)

ANDRÉ NEL, MEI-CAI WEI, GENG-YUN NIU, CORENTIN JOUAULT — Sat, 29 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +1200

The new tenthredinid Palaeocaiina menatensis gen. et sp. nov. is described and illustrated from the Paleocene of Menat (Puy-de-Dôme, France). Although its preservation complicates the observation of several key characters useful to distinguish between tenthredinid subfamilies, we decided to place this new taxon within the tribe Allantini of the subfamily Allantinae. Its venation of fore- and hind wings combined with the shape of its ovipositor sheaths leads us assume that Palaeocaiina gen. nov. is possibly related to the extant genus Caiina Wei, 2004 distributed in the east Palearctic. Interestingly, this new genus is the oldest known fossil of the subfamily Allantinae.

Gomphocopris ashworthi gen. et sp. nov. (Coleoptera, Scarabaeinae, Homocoprini): An additional new Chilean fossil genus and species extinct at the Pleistocene-Holocene boundary

FRANCISCO TELLO, FRANÇOIS GÉNIER, MARIO PINO, MICHELE ROSSINI, JOSÉ R. VERDÚ — Sat, 29 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +1200

Based on male and female fossil beetle remains recorded in the Pilauco deposits (northern Chilean Patagonia), a new and extinct dung beetle genus and species from an upper Pleistocene sequence (16.4 to 12.8 kyr BP) namely, Gomphocopris ashworthi gen. et sp. nov. (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Homocoprini) is described and illustrated. The morphological analysis of these fossil remains suggest that this extinct genus and species are placed into the tribe Homocoprini due to presence of supplementary carina in the lateral area in the pronotum. Moreover, this new taxon is separated from the extant Homocoprini species by the absence hypomeral carina (well developed in all extant species); cephalic horn in males with a distinct posterior projection apically (absent in the extant species), and the unique shapes and disposition of the pronotal lobes in major male and female. We suggest that this dung beetle genus and species became extinct in the late Pleistocene to early Holocene as a consequence of the drastic environmental changes, and the extinction of most of the large mammals, which were the organisms that provided feces for the development of their larvae.

Cretacetrocta, a new genus of barklice from the Early Cretaceous Lebanese amber

MARINA HAKIM, MOUNIR MAALOUF, DANY AZAR — Sat, 29 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +1200

Pachytroctidae is a diverse extant family of Troctomorpha, represented by few fossil taxa from the Cretaceous ambers of Myanmar and Lebanon, and a single species from the Eocene amber of France (Oise). Herein, we describe and illustrate a new monospecific genus Cretacetrocta libanella Hakim & Azar gen. et sp. nov. from the Lower Cretaceous Bqaatouta amber outcrop (Lebanon). The new taxon is tentatively assigned to Pachytroctidae, and the only hitherto record from Lebanese amber of the subfamily Tapinellinae. The new finding reveals potential unreliability of the character ‘nodulus’ as a key diagnostic characteristic of the family, at the very least among fossil representatives. On the other hand, sexual dimorphism, a common trait in modern species of the Pachytroctidae, remains unveiled among extinct taxa.

The first sphagnum bug (Hemiptera: Hebridae) from the Late Cretaceous Kachin amber

XIAO-YU ZHANG, DONG REN, YUN-ZHI YAO — Sat, 29 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +1200

A new genus and species of Hebridae, Archaeohebrus alius gen. et sp. nov., is described from the Late Cretaceous Kachin amber. The new genus is assigned to the Hebridae based on the bucculae elevated posteriorly forming a pair of ridges, short transverse mesoscutellum, and triangular metanotal elevation. This new genus differs from other genera of Hebridae in the forewing having three cells, three-segmented tarsi, and terminally inserted genital segments. The new genus might represent the most basal lineage of Hebridae, and the forewing venation of this Cretaceous hebrids hints at a close relationship between the Mesoveliidae and Hebridae.

Cretaceous caddisflies (Trichoptera: Polycentropodidae) in mid-Cretaceous amber from northern Myanmar

LIN-YUN SHI, JIA-JIA WANG, AI-BING ZHANG, JIA-WEI CHAO — Sat, 29 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +1200

A new species of caddisfly, Neucentropus wichardi sp. nov., from the Neureclipsis cluster in the Polycentropodidae Ulmer, 1903 is described from the mid-Cretaceous amber of Myanmar. The original description of Electrocentropus dilucidus Wichard, 2021 is modified with further features. The absence of forewing fork IV and the fusion of the Sc and R₁ before reaching the wing margin in both forewing and hindwing of Electrocentropus indicate that the genus is probably the sister group of all other genera of the Neureclipsis cluster. The fossil findings of Polycentropodidae from different geological periods are summarized in tabular form. The comparison shows a high diversity in the Cretaceous of the Neureclipsis cluster, but declined after the Mesozoic and was afterwards replaced by the strong Polycentropus cluster and the Cyrnus cluster.

Two interesting new genera of kalligrammatids (Insecta: Neuroptera) from Upper Cretaceous Myanmar amber

ZI-HAO PENG, SI-TING LIU, YU-TING CHEN, CHAO-FAN SHI, DONG REN, QIANG YANG — Sat, 29 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +1200

Two new genera and two new species of kalligrammatids, Electrogramma transformatum gen. et sp. nov. and Lasiogramma ooideum gen. et sp. nov., are described from the Late Cretaceous Myanmar amber. Electrogramma gen. nov. differs from other genera by its relatively large wing size; with a set of interlinked veinlets between costal crossveins, multiple rows of cells in base of CuP and AA; CuA distal forked while CuP pectinately branched near wing base in hind wing. And Lasiogramma gen. nov. is distinguished from other genera by its forewing RP1‒RP3 originating independently from R; costal crossveins absent; RP1 simple; nygma and eye-spot absent. A list of named kalligrammatids is also provided.

Spider-ant predation in Oligo-Miocene Mexican amber

Sat, 29 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +1200

Predator-prey interactions have played a pivotal role in the evolutionary history of both predators and prey. Nevertheless, due to spatiotemporal limitations in fossilization, evidence of such interactions is rarely preserved in the fossil record. This report documents the predatory activity of a clubionid sac spider (Araneae: Clubionidae) on an odorous ant (Formicidae: Dolichoderinae: Azteca) preserved in Mexican amber. The fossil material comes from the upper strata of the Simojovel Formation located in Chiapas, Mexico. Its recent dating places it within the temporal confines of the late Oligocene and early Miocene, ca. 24 Mya. This is a direct evidence of spider trapping and feeding behaviour resembling modern habits found in the geological past. The predator-prey interaction in the fossil record provides compelling evidence of biological diversity regarding taxonomic composition and spatial heterogeneity in a tropical and subtropical environment in which these species coexisted.

Cretaceous beetles of the Jinju Formation (Coleoptera: Hydrophiloidea)

SOO-BIN LEE, CHEN-YANG CAI, MICHAEL S. ENGEL, GI-SOO NAM, JONG-KYUN PARK — Sat, 29 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +1200

We report new discoveries of diverse Hydrophiloidea (Staphyliniformia) from the Albian (Early Cretaceous) Jinju Formation, South Korea, including the genera Laetopsia Fikáček et al., 2012 and Cretotaenia Ponomarenko, 1977, a new species of Laetopsia (Laetopsia leei sp. nov.), a species putatively shared with the Barremian Yixian Formation of China (L. cf. hydraenoides), an undetermined species of Laetopsia, and a new record of Cretotaenia pallida Ponomarenko are described and illustrated.

The first fossil mantis lacewing (Neuroptera: Mantispidae) from Australia

LACHLAN J. HART, MICHAEL S. ENGEL, MICHAEL FRESE, MATTHEW R. MCCURRY — Sat, 29 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +1200

Mantispidae is a cosmopolitan family of neuropteran insects, with approximately 395 extant species (Ohl et al., 2004; Jepson, 2015; Engel et al., 2018; Li et al., 2023). The family includes some of the most distinctive of lacewings owing to their convergent traits with mantises (Mantodea), complete with elongate prothoraces, prominent and large compound eyes on a moveable head, and powerful raptorial forelegs. Indeed, species of the family are referred to as mantis lacewings or mantid lacewings owing to the considerable similarity. As one would suspect, adults are predatory on a variety of small-bodied arthropods, typically hunting during dusk or night (Snyman et al., 2020). Larvae are also predators, although some are specialised for particular prey (e.g., subfamily Symphrasinae), while those of the nominate subfamily Mantispinae are ectoparasitic on spider egg cases (Redborg, 1998). Extant Mantispidae are found on every continent except Antarctica but show their highest diversity and geographical distribution in Australia and the Americas (Fig. 1A).

Early Cretaceous nepomorph bugs from the Wealden of the Weald

EDMUND A. JARZEMBOWSKI, BO WANG — Sat, 29 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +1200

True bugs (Heteroptera) are uncommon in the Lower Cretaceous Wealden Group of southern England, being represented by occasional terrestrial and aquatic forms (Jarzembowski, 2011). None have been formally described, but a giant water bug (belostomatid) and a saucer bug (naucorid) have been figured from the Weald Clay Formation (Jarzembowski & Coram, 1997: fig. 10; Austen et al., 2011: fig. 5, respectively). The former was considered closely allied to a stygeonepine from the Las Hoyas Konservat-Lagerstätte in eastern Spain and was subsequently reconstructed as Iberonepa sp. (Jarzembowski & Jarzembowski, 2019: fig. 3). Here we report two new nepomorphs, a patterned creeping water bug (naucorid) from the lower Weald Clay and the first Wealden toad bug, adding an ochteroid to the palaeoentomofauna—the largest and oldest gelastocorid known to date.

In memory of Wilfried Wichard (1944–2024)

WOLFRAM MEY, CHRISTEL HOFFEINS — Sat, 29 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +1200

Wilfried Wichard (WW) passed away in Bonn on 11 May, 2024 at the age of 80 (Fig. 1). He was born at Seppenrade in Westphalia, Germany on 25 April, 1944. From an early age he began to take an interest in nature. He started to collect insects during his high school years in Duisburg and published faunistic papers on Trichoptera. Faunistics remained a constant topic of interest in the first decades of his scientific career. Consequently, after high school he went on to study biology at Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn from 1965–1971. After graduating in 1971, he pursued his interest in the respiration mechanisms of Trichoptera larvae and earned his doctorate in the research group of Prof. Dr. G.H. Bick in 1973. In the following years, he continued to work at the university on issues of ecophysiology, cytology, osmoregulation and respiration, mainly of Trichoptera larvae and pupae, but also of other aquatic groups. Over the years he and his co-authors published a series of high-quality papers with results of their physiological studies supported by the German Research Foundation.

The 9th Fossils X3 and the 7th IPS Meeting in Xi’an (China), April 2024

MARINA HAKIM, SIBELLE MAKSOUD, DANY AZAR — Sat, 29 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +1200

Before 1996, few national meetings were held for scientific interest in palaeoentomology, palaeoarthropodology and amber, e.g., in Germany and Poland. The ever-growing attention to these fields aled to the creation of the Fossil Insect Network in 1996, based in France (Strasbourg), under the patronage of the European Science Foundation. Following that, the first of congresses on Fossil Insects, Arthropods and Amber was held in 1998 as two separate meetings, i.e., the First Palaeoentomological Conference in Russia (Moscow) and the World Congress on Amber Inclusions in Basque Country, Spain (Vitoria-Gasteiz). At that time, it was decided to hold regular conferences at an interval of four years minimum, which later changed to every three years. Meanwhile, the Brazilian Symposium on Palaeoarthropodology took place in Brazil (Ribeirão Preto) in 2000. The International Palaeoentomological Society (IPS) was created during the second of the congresses, which was held in Poland (Kraków) in 2001. The third congress took place in South Africa (Pretoria) in 2005, for the first time combining the three meetings, i.e., the Palaeoentomological Conference, the World Congress on Amber Inclusions, and the International Meeting on Palaeoarthropodology together as the Fossils X3 under the umbrella of the IPS. The fourth congress was held in Basque Country, Spain (Vitoria-Gasteiz) in 2007, the fifth in China (Beijing) in 2010, the sixth in Lebanon (Byblos) in 2013, the seventh in Scotland (Edinburgh) in 2016, the eighth in the Dominican Republic (Santo Domingo) in 2019, the nineth in China (Xi’an) in 2024, and the tenth is planned for Morocco (El Jadida) in 2027. It is noteworthy that, during the seventh congress, October 1^st was declared as the ‘International Fossil Insects Day’.