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Issue: Vol. 5696 No. 4: 26 Sept. 2025
Type: Article
Published: 2025-09-26
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5696.4.5
Page range: 542-566
Abstract views: 126
PDF downloaded: 10

First record of the family Melyridae (Coleoptera: Cleroidea) in late Eocene European ambers with description of a new tribe, a new genus and seven new species

Institute of Systematics and Ecology of Animals; Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences; Frunze 11; Novosibirsk 630091; Russia.; Tomsk State University; Lenina prospekt 36; Tomsk 634050; Russia.
Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University; Nevskogo 14; Kaliningrad 236016; Russia.
Institute of Life Sciences and Technologies; Daugavpils University; Vienības 13; Daugavpils LV-5401; Latvia.
A.A. Borissiak Paleontological Institute; Russian Academy of Sciences; Profsoyuznaya 123; Moscow 117868; Russia.
Altai State University; Lenina 61; Barnaul; 656049; Russia.
Natural History Museum of Denmark; Universitetsparken 15; Copenhagen; Denmark.
Coleoptera Melyridae Amelyris Eocene amber

Abstract

Seven new extinct species belonging to two subgenera (Amelyris Tshernyshev, Alekseev, Bukejs, Vasilenko, Legalov & Perkovsky, subgen. nov. and Asymelyris Tshernyshev, Alekseev, Bukejs, Vasilenko, Legalov & Perkovsky, subgen. nov.) within extinct genus Amelyris Tshernyshev, Alekseev, Bukejs, Vasilenko, Legalov & Perkovsky, gen. nov. are described and illustrated from inclusions in late Eocene European ambers (Baltic, Rovno, and Danish) as the first reliable fossils of the family Melyridae. The newly described taxa are included in the new tribe Amelyrini Tshernyshev, Alekseev, Bukejs, Vasilenko, Legalov & Perkovsky, trib. nov., which can be distinguished from the extant tribes of the subfamily by the following characters: (1) penultimate antennomeres oval-triangular with rounded edges, (2) elytral punctation between longitudinal carinae regular, arranged in three rows, (3) pronotum with strongly carinate lateral sides, (4) pronotal surface with pronounced foveolate punctation, (5) tarsomeres with strong semi-erect dark setae ventrally, and (6) body size comparatively small (2.5–3.8 mm). The keys to subfamilies and tribes of Melyridae, as well as to all species of the newly described genus, namely Amelyris (Amelyris) sveneldi Tshernyshev, Alekseev, Bukejs, Vasilenko, Legalov & Perkovsky, sp. nov., A. (Amelyris) elongatus Tshernyshev, Alekseev, Bukejs, Vasilenko, Legalov & Perkovsky, sp. nov., A. (Amelyris) tricarinatus Tshernyshev, Alekseev, Bukejs, Vasilenko, Legalov & Perkovsky, sp. nov., A. (Asymelyris) paucidentatus Tshernyshev, Alekseev, Bukejs, Vasilenko, Legalov & Perkovsky, sp. nov., A. (Asymelyris) lupatus Tshernyshev, Alekseev, Bukejs, Vasilenko, Legalov & Perkovsky, sp. nov., A. (Asymelyris) groehni Tshernyshev, Alekseev, Bukejs, Vasilenko, Legalov & Perkovsky, sp. nov., and A. (Asymelyris) jutlandicus Tshernyshev, Alekseev, Bukejs, Vasilenko, Legalov & Perkovsky, sp. nov., are provided.

 

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How to Cite

Tshernyshev, S.E., Alekseev, V., Bukejs, A., Vasilenko, D.V., Legalov, A.A. & Perkovsky, E.E. (2025) First record of the family Melyridae (Coleoptera: Cleroidea) in late Eocene European ambers with description of a new tribe, a new genus and seven new species. Zootaxa, 5696 (4), 542–566. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5696.4.5