Palaeoentomology

Archistrophus filicornis gen. et sp. nov., a new polypore fungus beetle (Coleoptera, Tetratomidae) from the Cretaceous Kachin amber

RI-XIN JIANG, XIANG-SHENG CHEN — Mon, 10 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +1300

The family Tetratomidae Billberg, 1820 (Coleoptera: Tenebrionoidea), commonly known as polypore fungus beetles, primarily feed on fresh or decaying fruiting bodies of various fungi (Lawrence & Leschen, 2010; Hsiao et al., 2018; Hsiao, 2020). Adults of this family are nocturnal and are typically found in forest habitats, associated with coarse woody debris (Pollock, 2008, 2012; Hsiao et al., 2018).

Marine ostracods found in lacustrine deposits of the Qaidam Basin suggest long-distance dispersal during the Pleistocene

YA-QIONG WANG, PING YANG, DAVID J. HORNE, YAN-HONG PAN — Mon, 10 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +1300

The marine ostracod species Bicornucythere bisanensis s.l. (Okubo, 1975) and Pistocythereis bradyformis (Ishizaki, 1968) have been identified in Pleistocene lacustrine deposits within the Qaidam Basin. These were previously misclassified as the freshwater species Cytherissa qaidamensis Yang & Lu (in Yang et al., 2020). Typically, both fossil and modern occurrences of these marine ostracod species are limited to coastal regions of the West Pacific Ocean, spanning roughly from 20°N to 43°N. The presence of B. bisanensis s.l. and P. bradyformis fossils in the Qaidam Basin suggests the possibility of long-distance dispersal of these marine ostracods by migrating water birds from the West Pacific coastal areas to the Qaidam palaeo-lake during the Pleistocene, a distance of over 2,000 kilometers and crossing a vast continental stretch. Furthermore, this discovery may also suggest that the East Asian Flyway or East Asia/Australasia Flyway was already in existence by the Pleistocene.

**A new species of the Recent genus Amblyomma (Parasitiformes: Ixodidae) discovered in Dominican amber**

Mon, 10 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +1300

Two new fossil hard ticks (Arachnida: Ixodida: Ixodidae) from Dominican amber (Miocene, probably Burdigalian, ca. 16 Ma) are described. An almost fully engorged female and a partly engorged larva were documented by combining light microscopy with high-resolution µCT-scans at the Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY) and 3D modelling of the data. Images of the fossils created from these 3D models facilitated comparisons with living ticks and the new material can be assigned to the Recent genus Amblyomma C.L. Koch, 1844 as Amblyomma arawakan Chitimia-Dobler & Martins sp. nov. The new amber species appears to be most closely related to the extant New World tick Amblyomma auricularium Conil, 1878. Possible hosts for the fossils are discussed within the wider context of their historical biogeography.

A short review of fossil insects preserved in sedimentary rocks in Poland

Wed, 24 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +1300

The wide range of fossil insect sites in Poland is of significant importance in understanding the evolution of the inland European faunas. Poland has been the site of many such discoveries, including the Early Jurassic Odrowąż, where specimens have been found with complete bodies and wings, the Late Jurassic Owadów-Brzezinki, and the Triassic Pałęgi clay-pit, which contains fossilised insects. This paper presents a short review of insect fossil sites in Polish sediments, with location maps. The table provides detailed information about these sites, taking into account the taxonomic affiliation of the specimens and their age.

Eocene amber from the Huangxian Basin of Longkou, eastern China

LING-HAN LUO, XUE-FEI YU, LU-LIANG HUANG, DANY AZAR, DI-YING HUANG — Wed, 24 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +1300

The Eocene represents a critical period for amber formation, yet relatively few Eocene amber deposits have been documented in China. To date, only the fossiliferous Fushun amber (Liaoning Province) and the relatively less explored Maoming amber (Guangdong Province) have been described. In this study, we report Eocene amber from Longkou, Shandong Province, eastern China, and provide mineralogical Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopic characterization. This represents the first record of amber from Shandong Province. Longkou amber occurs abundantly within Eocene coal seams, offering considerable potential for future discoveries of biological inclusions.

A new Triassic insect assemblage from the southern Ordos Basin, Shaanxi, North China

Wed, 24 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +1300

Insects are among the most diverse and ecologically significant groups in the fossil record, providing key insights into palaeoecology and diversity evolution of terrestrial ecosystems. This study reports a new insect fossil assemblage from the Chang 6 Member of the Yanchang Formation in the Ordos Basin, Huanglong, Shaanxi Province of China. The assemblage is dominated by Hemiptera and Coleoptera, with additional taxa belonging to Blattodea, and Plecoptera. Comparative analyses of entomofaunal composition show that Mesoblattinidae and Cupedidae co-occurred in both the Huanglong and Madygen entomofaunas, whereas Zygophlebiidae and Thaumatomeropidae, characteristic taxa of Madygen, are also documented in the Tongchuan entomofauna, highlighting ecological connectivity among these insect assemblages. The occurrence of Plecoptera (stoneflies), together with lithological evidence, could have indicated stronger hydrodynamic conditions than those of the Tongchuan fauna, consistent with a palaeogeographic scenario of enhanced water mobility during the contraction phase of the Chang 6 Member lacustrine basin. Furthermore, the warm, humid climate and extensive swamp forests of the Middle–Late Triassic likely promoted cross-regional insect dispersal and radiation.

The first fossil caddisfly (Insecta: Trichoptera: Phryganeidae) of Anatolia, from the locality of Vitala of the Early Miocene of Kymi (Evia, Greece) and it’s palaeogeographic importance

ANTONIOS ISIDOROS AVRITHIS — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +1300

The fossil record of insects in Greece is particularly scarce, with the only known locations comprising Evia (Bachmayer et al., 1971, 1981) and Crete (Wappler et al., 2009), each with a very small number of specimens. However, the fidelity of certain insect orders prevents their preservation in certain settings that other orders may be represented. The order Trichoptera is scarcely represented in the fossil record compared to Diptera, Coleoptera and Hymenoptera which are more abundant in Cenozoic (Labandeira & Sepkoski, 1993). Additionally, larval cases of Trichoptera are more commonly preserved than body fossils. In this paper, I describe a new specimen belonging to Phryganeidae from the Vitala area of Kymi, a rare family for compressional fossil findings, based on a fossilized wing. Furthermore, this is the first record of a fossil trichopteran from the Early Miocene Anatolian landmass, an understudied palaeogeographic area for palaeoentomology.

A new species of extinct wasp (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea: Encyrtidae) from Baltic amber with four-segmented funicle

SERGUEI A. SIMUTNIK, MADELINE V. PANKOWSKI, EVGENY E. PERKOVSKY — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +1300

Encyrtidae is a large family of parasitic wasps, containing some 5,100 described extant species (Noyes, 2023). Five monotypic genera of the earliest fossil Encyrtidae are known from middle Eocene Sakhalinian amber (~45 Ма) (Simutnik, 2014, 2020; Simutnik et al., 2021). Some 20 species in 18 extinct genera of Encyrtidae have been described from late Eocene (~35 Ma) Baltic, Danish, and Rovno ambers (summarized in Simutnik et al., 2023). Several undescribed encyrtids were reported by Noyes & Hayat (1994) and Manukyan (1999) from Baltic amber. One more monotypic genus was described from amber found in Lower Lusatia (Germany), which is probably also dated to the late Eocene (Simutnik et al., 2025). In addition, one species is known from a late Oligocene (23–24 Ma) compression fossil from Rott, Germany (Statz, 1938), and two more species from two extant genera are described from early-middle Miocene (15–20 Ma) Dominican amber (Zuparko & Trjapitzin, 2014; Poinar, 2020).

**A new genus for Libanoconis siberica Makarkin & Perkovsky, 2019 (Coniopterygidae: Aleuropteryginae) from the Cenomanian of northern Siberia**

VLADIMIR N. MAKARKIN, EVGENY E. PERKOVSKY — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +1300

Dustywings (Coniopterygidae) are minute lacewings characterized by the white waxy covering their bodies and wings with relatively reduced venation. Today, the family is comprised of less than 600 species distributed across the globe (Oswald & Machado, 2018). Currently, 51 fossil species in 27 fossil extinct genera are known (see Xiao et al., 2024: table 1; Azar & Engel, 2025). Most of these are adequately described as they are fossilised in amber with clearly preserved characters.

The amber trade along the Southwestern Silk Road from 600 BCE–220 CE

JING LÜ, DONG XU, XING-PING LI, FAN YANG, LI-RUI WANG, QING-HUI LI — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +1300

Amber holds significant historical importance in China, symbolizing not only the glory of ancient Chinese art and culture but also reflecting the development of cross-regional trade in antiquity. Evidence shows that Burmese and Baltic amber became widely popular during the Han dynasty (202 BCE–220 CE) and could be imported through various routes (Liu et al., 2023a, b; Zhao et al., 2023; Li et al., 2025). During this period, the Euro-Asia Steppe Trade Road was predominantly used for the import of Baltic amber, while the Maritime Silk Route might also facilitate the amber trade (Li et al., 2025). Additionally, the Southwestern Silk Route is regarded as a crucial pathway for amber trade in ancient Southern China. This overland route stretched from Central China through the mountainous regions of Sichuan, Guizhou, and Yunnan, extending to Myanmar and other Southeast Asian countries (Elias, 2024). The ancient Ailao Regional States, serving as a key node along the Southwestern Silk Road, encompassed southwestern Yunnan (China), northern Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, and eastern Assam (India) (Sun, 2016). Notably, the territory of Ailao Regional States included the Burmese amber deposits in the northern Myanmar, which was also recorded in the Han historical records as the amber origin (Fan, 1965). In addition, several amber artifacts from the same period have been discovered in the Dian Kingdom, which is primarily located in Yunnan and borders the Ailao Regional States (Zhao, 2016). While there is considerable evidence suggesting that the Southwestern Silk Route played a significant role in the amber trade, there is a lack of empirical evidence detailing its specific functions in the transportation of amber.