The early evolution of feathers: fossil evidence from Cretaceous amber of France

The developmental stages of feathers are of major importance in the evolution of body covering and the origin of avian flight. Until now, there were significant gaps in knowledge of early morphologies in theoretical stages of feathers as well as in palaeontological material. Here we report fossil evidence of an intermediate and critical stage in the incremental evolution of feathers which has been predicted by developmental theories but hitherto undocumented by evidence from both the recent and the fossil records. Seven feathers have been found in an Early Cretaceous (Late Albian, ca 100 Myr) amber of western France, which display a flattened shaft composed by the still distinct and incompletely fused bases of the barbs forming two irregular vanes. Considering their remarkably primitive features, and since recent discoveries have yielded feathers of modern type in some derived theropod dinosaurs, the Albian feathers from France might have been derived either from an early bird or from a non-avian dinosaur.     

First fossil record of Brachyptera (Plecoptera: Taeniopterygidae) in Eocene Baltic amber

The extant taeniopterygid genus Brachyptera Newport, 1848 is reported from the Eocene Baltic amber for the first time. A new species, Brachyptera dewalti n. sp. (Plecoptera: Taeniopterygidae), is described and illustrated based on a well-preserved female in the amber, distinguished by the presence of three well-developed ocelli, the dark color of antennae, maxillary palps, head, prothorax, and abdominal segments, the CuA vein of forewing with three branches, the nearly rhombus, dark brown postgenital plate, and the four-segmented cerci. It is the fourth taeniopterygid species known from the Baltic amber.     

The first fossil Dipsocoridae found in the early Eocene amber of France (Hemiptera: Heteroptera)

Cryptostemma eocenica sp. nov., the first fossil representative of the family Dipsocoridae (Heteroptera: Dipsocoromorpha), is described from Eocene amber of France on the basis of a single macropterous female. The specimen is very ‘modern’ in appearance, demonstrating the remarkable morphological stability of this family since 53 Ma. Its generic affinities are difficult to estimate because the modern genera are mostly separated by male genitalia or female internal structures.     

New genus of fossil apoid wasps (Hymenoptera,Apoidea) from the Cretaceous amber of Myanmar

The new genus 2Burmasphex is proposed for two fossil species, 2Burmasphex sulcatus sp. nov. and 2Burmasphex pilosus sp. nov., described from Myanmar Cretaceous amber. It exhibits many plesiomorphic features in relation to the extant Apoidea and is here provisionally allocated in the extinct family 2Angarosphecidae.     

Australia's oldest Anseriform fossil: a quadrate from the Early Eocene Tingamarra Fauna

Abstract: A partial quadrate (essentially the otic part) from the nonmarine, earliest Eocene (54.6 Ma) Tingamarra Local Fauna in Queensland, Australia, has been identified as the oldest Australian anseriform fossil. The Tingamarra quadrate shows a combination of plesiomorphic anseriform characters with a unique synapomorphic character complex of the Anhimidae (screamers), which today are endemic to South America. In concert with the basal position of the Anhimidae among the crown‐group anseriforms, this set of characters suggests a stem group of the Anhimidae, raising a possibility of the Transantarctic migration of stem anhimids to South America. The quadrate morphology supports palaeognathous rather than recently claimed anhimid relationships of the Dromornithidae and identifies Sylviornis as an anseriform rather than a galliform.     

Abraracourcix curvivenatus n. gen. n. sp. from the Lowermost Eocene Oise amber (Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha: Ricaniidae)

An extinct genus Abraracourcix n. gen. with A. curvivenatus n. sp. is described based on the specimen from the Lowermost Eocene Oise amber. The venation characters and possible hostplant relationships, as well as taxonomic position and biogeographical pattern of recent Pochazoides generic group are discussed.     

Lasioglossum (Dialictus) tenax (Sandhouse) (Hymenoptera: Halictidae) as a solitary sweat bee

Summary Nine nests ofLasioglossum (Dialictus) tenax were excavated near Calgary, Alberta, Canada over a time period encompassing the entire brood production period in 1988. Each nest contained a maximum of one active adult female, nest productivity peaked in mid July, protandry was noted and no significant size difference between foundresses and the earlier emerging females was detected. These data suggest that this species is solitary. These results are compared with data for the sympatrically nesting eusocial speciesL. (D.) laevissimum.     

Impact of the introduced honey bee (Apis mellifera) (Hymenoptera: Apidae) on native bees: A review

Abstract Interspecific competition for a limited resource can result in the reduction of survival, growth and/or reproduction in one of the species involved. The introduced honey bee (Apis mellifera Linnaeus) is an example of a species that can compete with native bees for floral resources. Often, research into honey bee/native bee competition has focused on floral resource overlap, visitation rates or resource harvesting, and any negative interaction has been interpreted as a negative impact. Although this research can be valuable in indicating the potential for competition between honey bees and native bees, to determine if the long‐term survival of a native bee species is threatened, fecundity, survival or population density needs to be assessed. The present review evaluates research that has investigated all these measurements of honey bee/native bee competition and finds that many studies have problems with sample size, confounding factors or data interpretation. Guidelines for future research include increasing replication and using long‐term studies to investigate the impact of both commercial and feral honey bees.     

Ants of the tribe Formicini (Hymenoptera,Formicidae) from Late Eocene amber of Europe

The tribe Formicini (Formicinae) from the Late Eocene Baltic, Bitterfeld, Rovno, and Scandinavian ambers is revised. Ants are recorded for the first time from the Bitterfeld and Scandinavian ambers. Two new genera (Cataglyphoides gen. nov. and Conoformica gen. nov.) and six new species (Cataglyphoides intermedius sp. nov., Conoformica bitterfeldiana sp. nov., Formica kutscheri sp. nov., F. palaeopolonica sp. nov., F. radchenkoi sp. nov., F. zherikhini sp. nov.) are described. A new combination, Cataglyphoides constrictus (Mayr, 1868), comb. nov., is established. A lectotype of Camponotus constrictus Mayr, 1868 and a neotype of Formica phaethusa Wheeler, 1915 are designated. Formica clymene Wheeler, 1915 is recognized as a new synonym of F. phaethusa Wheeler, 1915. An identification key for workers of Formicini species from Late Eocene European ambers is provided.     

The first sclerodermine and pristocerine flat wasps in Lowermost Eocene amber of France (Hymenoptera: Bethylidae)

Two new bethylid wasps, one Scleroderminae Paleoscleroderma lamarrei gen. et sp. n. and one Pristocerinae Pristocera alaini sp. n., are described from the Lowermost Eocene amber of Oise (France). Together with the Bethylinae and the three Epyrinae already described from the same amber, they show that this family was already very diverse during the Lower Paleogene.     

Panmixia: an example from Dawson's burrowing bee (Amegilla dawsoni) (Hymenoptera: Anthophorini)

Dawson's burrowing bee is a large, fast-flying solitary nesting bee endemic to the arid zone of Western Australia. In this study the population structure of the species was examined with molecular markers. Using eight microsatellite loci, we genotyped 531 adult female bees collected from 13 populations of Dawson's burrowing bee, Amegilla dawsoni, across the species range. The mean number of alleles per locus ranged from 4 to 38 and expected heterozygosity was uniformly high with a mean of 0.602. Pairwise comparisons of F(ST) among all 13 populations ranged from 0.0071 to 0.0122 with only one significant estimate and an overall F(ST) of 0.001. The entire sample collection was in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and there was no evidence of inbreeding with a mean F(IS) of 0.010. The mating and nesting behaviour of this bee suggests that gene flow would be limited by monandry and the fact that almost 90% of females mate immediately on emergence. Nevertheless there is obviously sufficient gene flow to maintain panmixia, and we suggest that this results from infrequent and unreliable rainfall in the species range, which causes the bees to congregate at limited food resources, allowing a small number of unmated females from one emergence site to come into contact with males from another population. In addition, when drought eliminates food resources near an emergence site, the whole population may move elsewhere, increasing gene flow across the species range.     

The effect of pollen protein concentration on body size in the sweat bee Lasioglossum zephyrum (Hymenoptera: Apiformes)

Adult bees and wasps provide all the food their offspring require to grow from egg to adult. For a given diet, offspring body size generally increases with an increase in the amount of food consumed as a larva, but the extent to which body size is influenced by the type of food consumed is poorly known. Pollen ranges from 2–60% protein among plant species, and bees are extremely efficient at assimilating nitrogen; therefore, it seems likely that either parent bees adjust the size of larval provisions to compensate for differences in pollen protein concentration or bee offspring attain different body size depending on the pollen type(s) consumed as a larva. We presented the generalist sweat bee Lasioglossum zephyrum with pollen diets that differed in protein content and monitored offspring body size during two experiments. In a protein supplementation experiment, diets ranged from 20–66% protein and consisted of Typha pollen amended with soy protein. On a pollen/soy diet, offspring body size increased 25% with a shift from 20–37% protein, but did not increase further at greater protein concentrations. In a multiple pollen experiment, pollen diets ranged from 20–39% protein and consisted of eight pollens that differed naturally in protein concentration. The largest offspring arose from the most protein-rich pollens, whereas much smaller bees developed on protein-poor pollens. Provision size only predicted offspring size when pollen type, and therefore protein quantity, was considered. Adult foragers did not adjust provision size to compensate for pollen protein. Therefore, offspring body size appears to result from a combination of controlled (provision size) and uncontrolled (pollen quality) factors that arise out of bee foraging decisions.     

A new species of Syntretus Foerster (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Euphorinae), a parasitoid of the stingless bee Trigona carbonaria Smith (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponinae)

A new species of euphorine braconid, Syntretus trigonaphagus sp. nov., is described and illustrated. This is the first Australian Syntretus species to be described and the first record of braconids parasitising Trigona Jurine stingless bees. Egg-laying by adults and emergence of larvae from the host Trigona carbonaria is detailed. A 12S ribosomal rRNA gene fragment was sequenced to confirm the association of larvae and adults of the wasp parasitoid.     

A new genus of myrmicine ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Eocene Baltic amber

Examination of fossil ant specimens from various private and institutional German collections of Baltic amber has revealed a new genus and species of Myrmicinae, described here as Thanacomyrmex hoffeinsorum gen. et sp. nov. The new worker morphotype shares some similarities with the coeval extinct genus Parameranoplus Wheeler, also from Baltic amber, and the extant genera Pristomyrmex Mayr and Acanthomyrmex Emery, suggesting placement of the new fossil in the Myrmecina genus-group within the tribe Crematogastrini. The new genus highlights the tremendous diversity of ants that evolved in the Palaeogene European forests and composed the first major radiation of crown-group ants.     

The phylogeny of lower Hymenoptera (Insecta), with a summary of the early evolutionary history of the order

A cladistic analysis of the lower Hymenoptera, including all the ‘symphytan’ families and the apocritan families Stephanidae, Megalyridae, Trigonalyidae, Ibaliidae, Vespidae and Gasteruptiidae, has been undertaken. A total of 98 characters were scored for 21 taxa. Twenty equally parsimonious minimum-length trees were obtained. The phylogenetic status of the Xyelidae is uncertain: they might be monophyletic. or the Xyelinae might be the sistergroup of the rest of the Hymenoptera. The non-xyelid Hymenoptera are probably monophyletic; the phylogeny Tenthredinoidea + (Megalodontoidea + (Cephidae + (Anaxyelidea + (Siricidae + (Xiphydriidae + (Orussidae + Apocrita)))))) is proposed for this clade. The Blasticotomidae are probably the sistergroup of all othe Tenthredinoidea, but tenthredinoid phylogeny is otherwise uncertain. Substantial homoplasy occurs within the ‘siricoid’ families, making the relative positions of the Anaxyelidae and Siricidae uncertain. The Stephanidae might be the sistergroup of the rest of the Apocrita; the phylogeny of the remaining apocritan taxa included is insufficiently elucidated. The phylogeny proposed here supports the hypothesis that the appearance of parasitism in the Hymenoptera took place in the common ancestor of Orussidae + Apocrita, the host of which was probably wood boring insect larvae. The exact larval mode of feeding of the ancestral hymenopteran cannot be determined due ot the diversity of lifestyles in the basal lineages of the order.     

Occurrence of the Australian bee Hyleoides concinna (Hymenoptera: Colletidae) in New Zealand

Abstract

The Australian bee Hyleoides concinna (Fabricius) has recently established itself near Gisborne and Napier on the east coast of the North Island, and is likely to extend its range in future. Nine bee genera and about 49 species are now known from New Zealand.     

The second fossil ceratocombid bug from the Miocene amber of Chiapas (Mexico) (Hemiptera: Ceratocombidae)

The second fossil Ceratocombidae Leptonannus miocenicus n. sp. is described as first extinct representative of the genus, from the Middle Miocene Mexican amber. The species is distinguished from its related taxa, a discussion is given.     

The paroxyclaenidae (Mammalia) and a new form from the early Eocene of Palette,France

A new genus and species of the Paroxyclaenidae is described,Merialus martinae, and the family is reviewed and divided into two subfamilies, the Paroxyclaeninae and the Merialinae, new. The two species ofDyspterna are attributed to two genera, of whichEuhookeria is new; Dyspterninae Kretzoi, 1943, is resurrected to includeDyspterna woodi, Cryptopithecus andKochictis; the subfamily is referred to the Pantolestidae.Vulpavoides is considered valid and includes“Russellites” simplicidens;V. vanvaleni n. sp. is described from Bouxwiller.Kiinkerishella andDulcidon are discussed, as are possible relationships between the Ptolemaiidae and the Merialine paroxyclaenids.     

Combined phylogenetic analysis of a new North American fossil species confirms widespread Eocene distribution for stem rollers (Aves,Coracii)

We report a nearly complete skeleton of a new species of stem roller (Aves, Coracii) from the early Eocene Green River Formation of North America. The new species is most closely related to two species‐depauperate lineages, Coraciidae (rollers) and Brachypteraciidae (ground rollers), that form a monophyletic crown clade (Coracioidea) with an exclusively Old World extant distribution. Phylogenetic analysis utilizing a matrix of 133 morphological characters and sequence data from three genes (RAG‐1, c‐myc, and ND2) identifies the new species as a stem member of the Coracii more closely related to the crown clade than the only previously identified New World taxon, Primobucco mcgrewi. The phylogenetic placement of the new species and Primobucco mcgrewiindicates a widespread northern hemisphere distribution in the Eocene with subsequent restriction to Africa, Madagascar, Australia, and temperate to tropical parts of Europe and Asia. It provides evidence of further ecological diversity in early stem Coracii and convergence on crown morphologies. The new species contributes to mounting evidence that extant distributions for major avian subclades may be of comparatively recent origin. Further late Palaeogene sampling is needed to elucidate potential drivers for shifting avian distributions and disappearance of Coracii from North America. © 2009 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2009, 157 , 586–611.