Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Type: Article
Published: 2024-08-26
Page range: 435-443
Abstract views: 243
PDF downloaded: 15

The oldest fossil record of Philopotinae (Diptera: Acroceridae) from the mid-Cretaceous amber of Northern Myanmar

College of Life Sciences; Capital Normal University; 105 Xisanhuanbeilu; Haidian District; 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; 105 Xisanhuanbeilu; Haidian District; Beijing 100048; China
College of Life Sciences; Capital Normal University; 105 Xisanhuanbeilu; Haidian District; 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; 105 Xisanhuanbeilu; Haidian District; Beijing 100048; China
Guangdong Key Laboratory of Animal Conservation and Resource Utilization; Guangdong Public Laboratory of Wild Animal Conservation and Utilization; Institute of Zoology; Guangdong Academy of Sciences; Guangzhou 510260; China
Diptera Mesozoic Burmese amber Dipterataxonomy

Abstract

A new genus and species of Acroceridae Leach, 1815, Burmophilopota wintertoni gen. et sp. nov., is identified from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber, representing the oldest member of Philopotinae Schiner 1868. Based on morphological comparisons, Burmophilopota wintertoni gen. et sp. nov. most likely represents a stem group of the Philopotinae. The new material with well-preserved details of mouthparts and complete wing venation suggests that the new species could possibly be a pollinator for the angiosperms. This finding enhances our understanding of early origin and evolution of pollinating flies during the Mesozoic period.

 

References

  1. Bigot, J.M.F. (1878) Description d’un nouveau genre de Diptères et celles de deux espèces du genre Holops (Cyrtidae). Annales de la Société entomologique de France, 8, 71–72.
  2. Erichson, W.F. (1840) Entomographien, untersuchungen in dem gebiete der entomologie, mit besonderer benutzung der königl. sammlung zu Berlin. FH Morin, Berlin, 180 pp. https://doi.org/10.5962/t.173879
  3. Gilbert, F.S. (1981) Foraging ecology of hoverflies: morphology of the mouthparts in relation to feeding on nectar and pollen in some common urban species. Ecological Entomology, 6, 245–262. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2311.1981.tb00612.x
  4. Gillung, J.P. & Winterton, S.L. (2011) New genera of philopotine spider flies (Diptera, Acroceridae) with a key to living and fossil genera. Zookeys, 127, 15–27. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.127.1824
  5. Gillung, J.P. & Winterton, S.L. (2018) A review of fossil spider flies (Diptera: Acroceridae) with descriptions of new genera and species from Baltic Amber. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology, 16, 325–350. https://doi.org/10.1080/14772019.2017.1289566
  6. Gillung, J.P., Winterton, S.L., Bayless, K.M., Khouria, Z., Borowiecd, M.L., Yeates, D., Kimseya, L.S., Misoff, B., Shing, S., Zhou, X., Mayer, C., Petersen, M. & Wiegmann, B.M. (2018) Anchored phylogenomics unravels the evolution of spider flies (Diptera, Acroceridae) and reveals discordance between nucleotides and amino acids. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 128, 233–245. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2018.08.007
  7. Gillung, J.P. & Winterton, S.L. (2019) Evolution of fossil and living spider flies based on morphological and molecular data (Diptera, Acroceridae). Systematic Entomology, 44, 820–841. https://doi.org/10.1111/syen.12358
  8. Grimaldi, D.A. (1995) A remarkable new species of Ogcodes (Diptera: Acroceridae) in Dominican amber. American Museum Novitates, 3127, 1–8.
  9. Grimaldi, D.A., Arillo, A., Cumming, J.M. & Hauser, M. (2011) Brachyceran Diptera (Insecta) in Cretaceous ambers, part IV, significant New Orthorrhaphous taxa. ZooKeys, 148, 293–332. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.148.1809
  10. Hauser, M. & Winterton, S.L. (2007) A new fossil genus of small-headed flies (Diptera: Acroceridae: Philopotinae) from Baltic Amber. Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 100, 152–156. https://doi.org/10.1603/0013-8746(2007)100[152:anfgos]2.0.co;2
  11. Hendel, F. & Beier, M. (1937) Ordnung der pterygogenea. Insecta 3. In: Kükenthal, W. & Krumbach, T. (Eds.), 1936–1938. Handbuch der Zoologie, 4, pp. 1729–1998.
  12. Hennig, W. (1966) Spinnenparasiten der Familie Acroceridae imbaltischen Bernstein. Stuttgarter Beitrage zur Naturkunde aus dem Staatlichen Museum für Naturkunde in Stuttgart, 165, 1–21.
  13. Hennig, W. (1968) Ein weiterer Vertreter der Familie Acroceridae im Baltischen Bernstein (Diptera: Brachycera). Stuttgarter Beitrage zur Naturkunde aus dem Staatlichen Museum für Naturkunde in Stuttgart, 185, 1–6.
  14. Hennig, W. (1973) Diptera (Zweiflügler). Handbuch der Zoologie, Berlin, 4, 1–200.
  15. Khramov, A.V. & Lukashevich, E.D. (2019) A Jurassic dipteran pollinator with an extremely long proboscis. Gondwana Research, 71, 210–215. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gr.2019.02.004
  16. Krenn, H.W., Plant, J.D. & Szucsich, N.U. (2005) Mouthparts of flower-visiting insects. Arthropod Structure & Development, 34, 1–40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asd.2004.10.002
  17. Leach, W.E. (1815) Entomology. In: Brewster, D. (Ed.), The Edinburgh Encyclopaedia. Vol. 9. Part 1. Baldwin, Edinburgh, pp. 57–172.
  18. Lin, X., Labandeira, C.C., Shih, C., Hotton, C.L. & Ren, D. (2019) Life habits and evolutionary biology of new two-winged long-proboscid scorpionflies from mid-Cretaceous Myanmar amber. Nature Communications, 10, 1235. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-09236-4
  19. Liu, Q., Lu, X., Zhang, Q., Chen, J., Zheng, X., Zhang, W., Liu, X. & Wang, B. (2018) High niche diversity in Mesozoic pollinating lacewings. Nature Communications, 9, 3793. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-06120-5
  20. Linnaeus, C. (1758) Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae: secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. 10th Edition. Laurentius Salvius, Stockholm, 824 pp. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.542
  21. Macquart, P.J.M. (1834) Histoire naturelle des insectes. Diptères. Tome premier. Roret, Paris, 578 pp. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.14274
  22. Meunier, F. (1912) Coup d’oeil retrospectif sur les dipteres du succin de la Baltique. Annales de la Société scientifique de Bruxelles, 36, 160–186.
  23. Nartshuk, E.P. (1996) A new fossil acrocerid fly from the Jurassic beds of Kazakhstan (Diptera: Acroceridae). Zoosystematica Rossica, 4, 313–315.
  24. Newman, E. (1834) Attempted division of British insect into natural orders. The Entomological Magazine 2, 379–431.
  25. Osten Sacken, C.R. (1896) A new genus of Cyrtidae (Dipt.) from New Zealand. Entomologist’s Monthly Magazine, 7, 16–18. https://doi.org/10.1002/mmnd.48018960706
  26. Peñalver, E., Arillo, A., Perez-de la Fuente. R., Riccio, M.L., Delclòs, X., Barròn, E. & Grimaldi, D.A. (2015) Long-proboscid flies as pollinators of Cretaceous gymnosperms. Current Biology, 25, 1917–1923. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2015.05.062
  27. Philippi, R.A. (1865) Aufzählung der chilenischen Dipteren. Verhandlungen der Zoologisch-Botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien, 15, 595–782. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.9295
  28. Poinar, G.O. Jr., Buckley, R. & Chen, H. (2016) A primitive mid-Cretaceous angiosperm flower, Antiquifloris latifibris gen. & sp. nov., in Myanmar amber. Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas, 10, 155–162.
  29. Poinar, G.O. Jr. & Chambers, K.L. (2017) Tropidogyne pentaptera sp. nov., a new mid-Cretaceous fossil angiosperm flower in Burmese amber. Palaeodiversity, 10, 135–140. https://doi.org/10.18476/pale.v10.a10
  30. Ren, D., Labandeira, C.C., Santiago-Blay, J.A., Rasnitsyn, A., Shih, C.K., Bashkuev, A., Logan, M.A.V., Hotton, C.L. & Dilcher, D. (2009) A probable pollination mode before angiosperms: Eurasian, long-proboscid scorpionflies. Science, 326, 840–847. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1178338
  31. Rondani, C. (1841) Progetto di una classificazione in famiglie degli insetti ditteri Europei. Memoria Terza per Servir alla Ditterologia Italiana. Donati, Parma, 28 pp.
  32. Schiner, I.R. (1868) Diptera. In: Wullerstorf-Urbair, B. von (Ed.), Reise der österreichischen Fregatte Novara. B.K. Gerold’s Sohn, Wien, pp. 1–388. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.7913
  33. Schlinger, E.I. (1961) A review of the Acroceridae of Madagascar (Diptera). Meìmoires de l’Institut scientifique de Madagascar, Série E, 12, 257–267.
  34. Schlinger, E.I. (1968) Studies in the Dipterous Family Acroceridae (Schizophora). Part I. A Revision of the Genus Psilodera Gray with Descriptions of Four New Genera and a New Species. Annals of the Natal Museum, 20, 15–34.
  35. Schlinger, E.I., Gillung, J.P. & Borkent, C.J. (2013) New spider flies from the Neotropical region (Diptera, Acroceridae) with a key to New World genera. ZooKeys, 270, 59–93. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.270.4476
  36. Shi, G., Grimaldi, D.A., Harlow, G.E., Wang, J., Wang, J., Yang, M., Lei, W., Li, Q. & Li, X. (2012) Age constraint on Burmese amber based on U-Pb dating of zircons. Cretaceous Research, 37, 155–163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2012.03.014
  37. Szucsich, N.U. & Krenn, H.W. (2000) Morphology and function of the proboscis in Bombyliidae (Diptera, Brachycera) and implications for proboscis evolution in Brachycera. Zoomorphology, 120, 79–90. https://doi.org/10.1007/s004350000025
  38. Ussatchev, D.A. (1968) New Jurassic Asilomorpha (Diptera) in Karatau. Washington Entomological Review, 47, 378–384.
  39. Wiedemann, C.R.W. (1830) Aussereuropäische zweiflügelige Insekten. Als Fortsetzung des Meigenschen Werkes. Zweiter Theil. Schulz, Hamm, xii + 684 pp.+5 pls.
  40. Wiegmann, B. M., Trautwein, M. D., Winkler, I.S., Norman, B.B., Kim, J-W., Lambkin, C., Bertone, M.A., Cassel, B.K., Bayless, K.M., Heimberg, A.M., Wheeler, B.M., Peterson, K.J., Pape, T., Sinclair, B.J., Skevington, J.H., Blagoderov, V., Caravas, J., Kutty, S.N., Schmidt-Ott, U., Kampmeier, G.E., Thompson, F.C., Grimaldi, D.A., Beckenbach, A.T., Courtney, G.W., Friedrich, M., Meier, R. & Yeates, D.K. (2011) Episodic radiations in the fly tree of life. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of USA, 108, 5690–5695. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1012675108
  41. Winterton, S.L., Wiegmann, B.M. & Schlinger, E.I. (2007) Phylogeny and Bayesian divergence time estimations of small-headed flies (Diptera: Acroceridae) using multiple molecular markers. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 43, 808–832. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2006.08.015
  42. Winterton, S.L. & Barraclough, D.A. (2017) Acroceridae. In: Kirk-Spriggs, A.H. & Sinclair, B.J. (Eds.), Manual of Afrotropical Diptera. Vol. 2. Suricata 4. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria, pp. 981–993.
  43. Woodley, N.E. (1989) Phylogeny and classification of the Orthorrhaphous Brachycera. In: McAlpine, J.F. (Ed.), Manual of Nearctic Diptera. Vol. 3. Research Branch Agriculture Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, pp. 1371–1395.
  44. Yeates, D.K. (2002) Relationships of extant lower Brachycera (Diptera): a quantitative synthesis of morphological characters. Zoologica Scripta, 31, 105–121. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.0300-3256.2001.00077.x