Biting midges of the extinct genus Protoculicoides Boesel from Lower Cretaceous amber of San Just, Spain and new synonymy in recently described fossil genera (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae)
“…Currently, there are 283 fossil and 6267 extant species recorded from all over the world [25]. The fossil record of Ceratopogonidae dates back to the Early Cretaceous with findings in the Purbeck limestone of Great Britain (142 Ma) [26], in amber from Jordan and Lebanon (125–129 Ma) [27, 28], in the Koonwarra fossil bed of Australia (113–116 Ma) [29], and in amber from Spain (110–113 Ma) [30] (see also [25, 28]). Late Cretaceous records are from amber from Myanmar (Burmese amber, 98–99 Ma), France (Vendean amber: 85–97 Ma; Charantese amber: late Albian—early Cenomanian), Taimyr (Yantardakh: Santonian; Agapa River: late Cenomanian), New Jersey (90–94 Ma), Hungary (Campanian-Santonian), and Canada (76–80 Ma) (summarized in [25, 28).…”
India’s unique and highly diverse biota combined with its unique geodynamical history has generated significant interest in the patterns and processes that have shaped the current distribution of India’s flora and fauna and their biogeographical relationships. Fifty four million year old Cambay amber from northwestern India provides the opportunity to address questions relating to endemism and biogeographic history by studying fossil insects. Within the present study seven extant and three fossil genera of biting midges are recorded from Cambay amber and five new species are described: Eohelea indica Stebner & Szadziewski n. sp., Gedanohelea gerdesorum Stebner & Szadziewski n. sp., Meunierohelea cambayana Stebner & Szadziewski n. sp., Meunierohelea borkenti Stebner & Szadziewski n. sp., and Meunierohelea orientalis Stebner & Szadziewski n. sp. Fossils of species in the genera Leptoconops Skuse, 1889, Forcipomyia Meigen, 1818, Brachypogon Kieffer, 1899, Stilobezzia Kieffer, 1911, Serromyia Meigen, 1818, and Mantohelea Szadziewski, 1988 are recorded without formal description. Furthermore, one fossil belonging to the genus Camptopterohelea Wirth & Hubert, 1960 is included in the present study. Our study reveals faunal links among Ceratopogonidae from Cambay amber and contemporaneous amber from Fushun, China, Eocene Baltic amber from Europe, as well as the modern Australasian and the Oriental regions. These findings imply that faunal exchange between Europe, Asia and India took place before the formation of Cambay amber in the early Eocene.
“…Currently, there are 283 fossil and 6267 extant species recorded from all over the world [25]. The fossil record of Ceratopogonidae dates back to the Early Cretaceous with findings in the Purbeck limestone of Great Britain (142 Ma) [26], in amber from Jordan and Lebanon (125–129 Ma) [27, 28], in the Koonwarra fossil bed of Australia (113–116 Ma) [29], and in amber from Spain (110–113 Ma) [30] (see also [25, 28]). Late Cretaceous records are from amber from Myanmar (Burmese amber, 98–99 Ma), France (Vendean amber: 85–97 Ma; Charantese amber: late Albian—early Cenomanian), Taimyr (Yantardakh: Santonian; Agapa River: late Cenomanian), New Jersey (90–94 Ma), Hungary (Campanian-Santonian), and Canada (76–80 Ma) (summarized in [25, 28).…”
India’s unique and highly diverse biota combined with its unique geodynamical history has generated significant interest in the patterns and processes that have shaped the current distribution of India’s flora and fauna and their biogeographical relationships. Fifty four million year old Cambay amber from northwestern India provides the opportunity to address questions relating to endemism and biogeographic history by studying fossil insects. Within the present study seven extant and three fossil genera of biting midges are recorded from Cambay amber and five new species are described: Eohelea indica Stebner & Szadziewski n. sp., Gedanohelea gerdesorum Stebner & Szadziewski n. sp., Meunierohelea cambayana Stebner & Szadziewski n. sp., Meunierohelea borkenti Stebner & Szadziewski n. sp., and Meunierohelea orientalis Stebner & Szadziewski n. sp. Fossils of species in the genera Leptoconops Skuse, 1889, Forcipomyia Meigen, 1818, Brachypogon Kieffer, 1899, Stilobezzia Kieffer, 1911, Serromyia Meigen, 1818, and Mantohelea Szadziewski, 1988 are recorded without formal description. Furthermore, one fossil belonging to the genus Camptopterohelea Wirth & Hubert, 1960 is included in the present study. Our study reveals faunal links among Ceratopogonidae from Cambay amber and contemporaneous amber from Fushun, China, Eocene Baltic amber from Europe, as well as the modern Australasian and the Oriental regions. These findings imply that faunal exchange between Europe, Asia and India took place before the formation of Cambay amber in the early Eocene.
“…All of the identified insect families are also recorded earlier in the Mesozoic, including from Kachin amber. Interestingly, some fossils represent the latest known occurrence of typically Cretaceous taxa, demonstrating the survival of these lineages to the latest Campanian: the biting midge (Ceratopogonidae) genus Protoculicoides was known from ambers 20 in Albian (Spain), Cenomanian (France and Kachin), Turonian (New Jersey, USA), Coniacian-Santonian (Taimyr, Russia), and early/middle Campanian (Canada); in contrast, the mantis (Mantodea) genus Burmantis is only known from the Barremian and Cenomanian ambers (Lebanese and Kachin) 21 .…”
Insect faunas are extremely rare near the latest Cretaceous with a 24-million-year gap spanning from the early Campanian to the early Eocene. Here, we report a unique amber biota from the Upper Cretaceous (uppermost Campanian ~72.1 Ma) of Tilin, central Myanmar. The chemical composition of Tilin amber suggests a tree source among conifers, indicating that gymnosperms were still abundant in the latest Campanian equatorial forests. Eight orders and 12 families of insects have been found in Tilin amber so far, making it the latest known diverse insect assemblage in the Mesozoic. The presence of ants of the extant subfamilies Dolichoderinae and Ponerinae supports that tropical forests were the cradle for the diversification of crown-group ants, and suggests that the turnover from stem groups to crown groups had already begun at ~72.1 Ma. Tilin amber biota fills a critical insect faunal gap and provides a rare insight into the latest Campanian forest ecosystem.
“…(C, D) The extant genus Baeodasymyia , indicative for the Miocene (after Szadziewski 2008): (C) male of Baeodasymyia dominicana Szadziewski & Grogan, 1994 from Dominican amber (after Szadziewski & Grogan 1994); (D) distribution of extinct and extant species (after Szadziewski 2008). Figure 5A readily recognisable indicative character – macrotrichia on wing membranes – which evolved during the mid-Cretaceous (after Szadziewski et al 2016, modified).…”
Section: Biting Midges As Indicators Of Geological Ages Of Amber and mentioning
confidence: 99%
“…A readily recognisable indicative character – macrotrichia on wing membranes – which evolved during the mid-Cretaceous (after Szadziewski et al 2016, modified).…”
Section: Biting Midges As Indicators Of Geological Ages Of Amber and mentioning
confidence: 99%
“…(Lower Cretaceous, Albian, 101–113 Ma) (Szadziewski & Arillo, 1998, 2003; Pérez-de la Fuente et al 2011; Szadziewski et al 2016). Only eight species in five genera have been reported from this relatively recently discovered amber:…”
Section: Biting Midges Indicative For Ambersmentioning
Biting midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) are a large family of flies that commononly appear in Lower Cretaceous to Miocene strata, with over 280 fossil species (4.3 % of the family), belonging to 49 genera (26 extant; 23 extinct). Morphological characters used in the identification of fossil genera and species are identical to those used in studies of extant Ceratopogonidae and, as a result, their potential indicative value is reliable. Two relictual extant genera, Leptoconops and Austroconops, reported from Lower Cretaceous Lebanese amber, are at least 125 million years old. Certain ceratopogonid genera are indicative for the Lower Cretaceous, Upper Cretaceous, Eocene or Miocene. A morphological character indicative for the Upper Cretaceous and Cenozoic is macrotrichia on the wing membrane of adults. Indicator species and genera are reviewed for all amber deposits. Eocene Baltic amber contains the best known fauna of biting midges, with 109 named species. Some genera are indicative of aquatic and semiaquatic habitats (predaceous genera, subfamily Ceratopogoninae), forests with rotting trees (Forcipomyia), sandy sea shore habitats (Leptoconops), a cold boreal climate (Ceratopogon) or warm climates (Nannohelea, Austroconops, Leptoconops, Meunierohelea, Metahelea). Females require a protein-rich meal and are well known for feeding on the blood of vertebrates, but many feed on other things, so this information can help with the interpretation of palaeoenvironments. Washingtonhelea taimyrica Szadziewski, 1996, described from Siberian amber, is transferred to the fossil genus Palaeobrachypogon: P.taimyricus (Szadziewski, 1996), comb. nov. For Serromyia alphea, mistakenly redescribed and illustrated from Eocene Bitterfeld amber (= Baltic amber) by Szadziewski (1993), a new name – Serromyiaerrata Szadziewski, nom. nov. – is proposed.
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