Contribution to the study of the structure of amber forest communities based on analysis of syninclusions in the Rovno amber (Late Eocene of Ukraine)

The composition of syninclusions was analyzed in three representative samples of the Late Eocene Rovno amber. Statistical analysis revealed a stable connection between three pairs of taxa in all three samples, viz., the midges Chironomidae and Ceratopogonidae; the flies Dolichopodidae and aphids Germaraphis; and the mite Glaesacarus rhombeus and Sciara zone dipterans (Sciaroidea, Tipuloidea, etc.). The first pair is interpreted as representing the assemblage of aeroplankton insects; the second, the assemblage of dwellers of the trunks of amber trees; and the third pair, the assemblage of dead wood consumers. The results, although provisional, support the idea that the study of syninclusions is a useful instrument for understanding the structure of past communities.     

Differences in ant (Hymenoptera,Formicidae) species composition between weight fractions of Rovno amber

The first syninclusion of the myrmicine Monomorium mayrianum Wheeler (two workers) and the aphid Germaraphis ungulata Heie (one nymph) is described from the Bitterfeld amber. Additionally, G. ungulata is recorded in a syninclusion with Ctenobethylus goepperti (Mayr) in the Rovno amber for the first time.     

On finding a single-clawed aphid, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Germaraphis ungulata</Emphasis> (Homoptera,Aphidinea), in a syninclusion with the ant <Emphasis Type="Italic">Monomorium mayrianum</Emphasis> (Hymenoptera,Formicidae) in the Saxonian amber

The first syninclusion of the myrmicine Monomorium mayrianum Wheeler (two workers) and the aphid Germaraphis ungulata Heie (one nymph) is described from the Bitterfeld amber. Additionally, G. ungulata is recorded in a syninclusion with Ctenobethylus goepperti (Mayr) in the Rovno amber for the first time.     

Eohelea sinuosa (Meunier, 1904) (Diptera, Ceratopogonidae) in Late Eocene ambers of Europe

Differences between ceratopogonid faunas from different Late Eocene ambers are almost as great as between ant faunas and give evidence of their different geographical origins. The greatest similarity is recorded between ceratopogonid faunas of the Rovno and Danish ambers; it manifests itself, in particular, in the presence of Leptoconops, abundant Eohelea sinuosa, and rather frequent occurrence of Meunierohelea. Eohelea sinuosa is the most abundant ceratopogonid species in the Rovno amber. The abundance of Eohelea is probably accounted for by the abundance in these assemblages of small chironomids, with terrestrial larvae; which composed 40% of the Rovno amber chironomid fauna and were probably prey to Eohelea. It is shown for the first time that Ceratopogonini with feminized male antennae (with reduced plume) occur three times as often in syninclusions of specimens of both sexes (63% of all Eohelea inclusions from the Rovno amber);this is evidence that Ceratopogonini with feminized male antennae turned to mating on substrate. This supports the hypothesis of Dinwiddie and Rachootin (2011) that wing organs of female Eohelea were not used for stridulation.     

Ants of the Genus <Emphasis Type="Italic">Fallomyrma</Emphasis> Dlussky et Radchenko (Hymenoptera,Formicidae, Myrmicinae) from Late Eocene European Ambers

The extinct monotypic ant genus Fallomyrma was described by Dlussky and Radchenko in 2006 based on workers from Late Eocene Rovno (Ukraine), Scandinavian (Denmark), and Bitterfeld (Germany) ambers. Three new Fallomyrma species from the Rovno amber are here described based on workers: F. anodonta sp. nov., F. marginata sp. nov., and F. robusta sp. nov. A key to all known species of this genus is compiled. The quantity ratios (of the numbers of species and specimens) of Fallomyrma and other amber Myrmicinae genera are considered. The opinion of the autochthonous origin of the Rovno amber is confirmed.     

Thrips (Thysanoptera, Insecta) from the Rovno amber, Eocene of Ukraine

Seventy-six thrips were discovered in Rovno amber. Among these, 67 were identified to suborder, 52, to family, 45, to genus, and 41, to species level. In total, five species, six genera, five families, and two suborders are recorded. No undescribed taxa have been found so far. All the identified thrips, except those of the genus Phloeothrips, belong to fossil taxa, previously known only from the Baltic and Bitterfeld ambers. However, the composition of species in the Rovno amber is highly unusual due to domination of Praedendrothrips avus Priesner, 1924. This species, rare in the Baltic amber, constitutes 49% of all the Rovno records. Thus, the Rovno amber, in contrast to the Baltic and Bitterfeld ambers, is characterized by poor taxonomic diversity of thrips and presence of a clearly dominant species.     

Beiträge zur kenntnis fossiler trauermücken aus Sächsischem Bernstein. teil II. Drei neue sciariden aus tertiär-Harzen des bitterfelder braunkohlereviers (insecta,diptera, sciaridae)

Examination of 278 pieces of fossil resins from the lower Miocene Saxonian amber (opencast mining Goitsche/Bitterfeld/Germany) yielded to a total of 60 Sciarids in 29 pieces of amber. They belong to 9 species from 3 genera. The speciesEpidapus Primarius, Trichosia (Palaeotrichosia) voelsgeni andTrichosia (Palaeotrichosia) kedingi are new. The other species are known also from Baltic amber.     

Fossil amoebae (Hemiarcherellidae fam. nov.) from Albian (Cretaceous) amber of France

Abstract: Two extraordinarily well‐preserved testate amoebae are described from Late Albian age amber from south‐western France. The specimens are attributed to a new family, the Hemiarcherellidae fam. nov., and are described as Hemiarcherella christellae gen. et sp. nov. The amoebae described herein originate from highly fossiliferous amber pieces. Based on syninclusions, Hemiarcherella christellae was a soil‐dwelling organism, probably an active bacterivore. This taxon represents the third species of testate amoebae described from mid‐Cretaceous French amber. Analysis of this fossil amoeba fauna illustrates the uniqueness of mid‐Cretaceous French amber deposits. Indeed, most amoebae found in amber have been assigned to modern species, corroborating the hypothesis of morphological stasis in different microbial lineages. However, the well‐preserved amoebae fauna found in French amber can be distinguished clearly from modern species and help us to better understand the fossil record of these organisms.     

New species of Late Eocene dermestid beetles (Coleoptera, Dermestidae) from the Rovno and Baltic ambers

Fossil beetles of the family Dermestidae are reviewed. Three new species are described: Dermestes progenitor and Megatoma electra from the Baltic amber and Dermestes vetustus from the Rovno amber (Late Eocene).     

New taxa of soft-winged flower beetles (Coleoptera,Malachiidae) in Baltic and Rovno amber

Two new genera and three new species of soft-winged flower beetles (Coleoptera, Malachiidae) are described from Rovno and Baltic Eocene amber. Protocephaloncus gen. nov. with the type species P. perkovskyi sp. nov. was found in the Rovno amber. It differs from its congeners in the tribe Troglopini in the primitive sculpture of the male facial area as a longitudinal narrow depression between the eyes lacking an appendage inside, and two trapezoid impressions on both sides of the depression closer to its lower part. A transverse pronotum, slightly rounded, but not sinuate posteriorly, is also a diagnostic feature of the new genus. A new genus of the tribe Attalini, Palpattalus gen. nov., was found in the Baltic amber. The tarsal comb on the anterior second tarsomere of the male, complicatedly curved pygidium, and cylindrical apical palpomere allow the definite attribution of the genus to the tribe Attalini. The characteristically enlarged, rounded and slightly flattened 1st palpomere, possessing a long seta directed outward, of the new genus resembles similar structures found in members of the tribe Colotini, all males of which have modified and enlarged 3rd and 4th palpomeres. Probably, Palpattalus gen. nov. represents an ancestral form for these two tribes. This allows the establishment of independent status for Antholinus Mulsant and Rey, 1867 stat. resurr., with anterior tarsi in males lacking comb on the second tarsomere, in contrast to all other subgenera of Attalus Erichson, 1840. Males of two different species, Palpattalus baltiensis sp. nov. and P. eocenicus sp. nov., were found as inclusions in Baltic amber. They differ in the coloration of the elytra, yellow with black spots in Palpattalus baltiensis sp. nov. and unicolorous black in P. eocenicus sp. nov.; the shape of pygidia, longitudinal and strongly elongated in P. baltiensis and transverse and rounded in P. eocenicus, and in a number of other characters.     

Hepatics from Rovno amber (Ukraine), 6. Frullania rovnoi,sp. nov.

A fossil species of the extant liverwort genus Frullania Raddi is described and illustrated, based on a single inclusion in a piece of Rovno amber (Ukraine) that shares its age with Late Eocene Baltic amber, its northern contemporary. Frullania rovnoi is characterised by leaves with a rounded dorsal lobe and the absence of ocelli. The ventral lobe is inflated and forms a saclike lobule, which is bell-shaped and somewhat constricted above the mouth. The bifid underleaves have several blunt teeth or angulations along the shoulder. The Rovno fossil differs sufficiently from morphologically similar species preserved in Baltic and Bitterfeld amber as to be described as new to science. The shape of the lobules and underleaves, as well as the absence of ocelli, indicate an affiliation to F. sect. Australes, hitherto represented in Eocene amber inclusions solely by F. schumannii (Casp.) Grolle. The Rovno fossil is distinguished from extant species of F. subg. Australes and from F. schumannii by having roughly and irregularly dentate-angulate underleaf margins.     

Two new genera of cuckoo wasps (Chrysididae: Amiseginae) from Rovno and Baltic ambers

Cuckoo wasps of the subfamily Amiseginae, Eosega heterotarsata gen. et sp. nov. and Foveorisus kilimniki gen. et sp. nov., from the Late Eocene Baltic (Russia) and Rovno ambers (Ukraine), respectively, are described. Primitive Eosega is close to the extinct genus Palaeobethylus Brues in Kieffer, 1914 and represents the so-called American series of genera of Amiseginae. Foveorisus is found to be morphologically close to a number of extant oriental genera. All known fossil Amiseginae are listed. Stick insects of the family Archipseudophasmatidae, possible hosts of the Eocene amisegines, are recorded in the Rovno amber for the first time.     

A parasitic wasp of the platygastrid family (Platygastroidea, Platygastridae, Sceliotrachelinae) first recorded in the Rovno amber (Eocene of Ukraine)

A new platygastrid species, Platystasius gracilis sp. nov., from an inclusion in Upper Eocene Rovno amber is described. The new species is assigned to the genus Platystasius Nixon, 1937. The morphological characteristics of the new species are described, and comparative analysis of the inclusion and a representative of the Recent fauna are provided.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Dencyrtus</Emphasis> gen. nov. (Hymenoptera,Chalcidoidea, Encyrtidae) from the Late Eocene Danish Amber

Based on two females from the Danish amber collection of the Zoological Museum of University of Copenhagen, Dencyrtus vilhelmseni gen. and sp. nov. is described. The antennae of the new genus are very similar in structure to that of Eocencyrtus Simutnik, 2001 from the Rovno and Baltic ambers. However, the presence of the filum spinosum on the linea calva of the forewing disc indicates that it belongs to a different subfamily.     

A new genus and species of gall midges of the supertribe Heteropezidi (Diptera,Cecidomyiidae) found in Eocene amber from Sakhalin

A new genus and species of pedogenetic gall midge, Estoperpetua sakhalinica gen. et sp. nov., of the tribe Heteropezini (subfamily Lasiopterinae) is described. Gall midges have not been recorded in Eocene amber of Sakhalin. A female with 4-segmented tarsi, large transparent triangular sensoria on flagellomeres, short wings and legs, and long 2 + 9-segmented antennae is described. Heteropezidi shows the greatest generic and species diversity in the Late Eocene Rovno amber. Representatives of this supertribe were also found in the Late Eocene Baltic amber, Early Eocene Oise amber, Miocene amber from Mexico and Dominican Republic, and African copal. Heteropezidi from different amber faunas are reviewed.     

The First Ant-Termite Syninclusion in Amber with CT-Scan Analysis of Taphonomy

We describe here a co-occurrence (i.e. a syninclusion) of ants and termites in a piece of Mexican amber (Totolapa deposit, Chiapas), whose importance is two-fold. First, this finding suggests at least a middle Miocene antiquity for the modern, though poorly documented, relationship between Azteca ants and Nasutitermes termites. Second, the presence of a Neivamyrmex army ant documents an in situ raiding behaviour of the same age and within the same community, confirmed by the fact that the army ant is holding one of the termite worker between its mandibles and by the presence of a termite with bitten abdomen. In addition, we present how CT-scan imaging can be an efficient tool to describe the topology of resin flows within amber pieces, and to point out the different states of preservation of the embedded insects. This can help achieving a better understanding of taphonomical processes, and tests ethological and ecological hypotheses in such complex syninclusions.     

Archaeotinodes ivanovi sp. nov., a new fossil species of Ecnomidae (Insecta: Trichoptera) from the Baltic amber

Archaeotinodes ivanovi sp. nov., a new species of the fossil genus Archaeotinodes, is described from the Eocene Baltic amber. The new species is generally similar to A. pauper Ulmer, 1912 and A. igneusaper Melnitsky, 2009 from the Baltic amber and to A. reveraverus Melnitsky et Ivanov, 2010 from the Rovno amber.     

A new species of derelomine weevils (Coleoptera,Curculionidae, Curculioninae: Acalyptini) from the Rovno amber

Protoceletes hirtus sp. nov. (Curculionidae: Curulioninae: Acalyptini) from the Late Eocene Rovno amber is described. This is the second fossil of the genus. The new species is close to P. wolfschwenningerae Rheinheimer, 2007 from Baltic amber and differs it in the separated coxae, asymmetrically convex eyes, longer and clearly semierect hairs on the surface, and the longer body.     

A new fossil species of the extinct tribe Mimoplatycini Kazantsev, 2013 (Coleoptera Cantharidae)

A new fossil species from the Eocene Baltic amber of the extinct tribe Mimoplatycini Kazantsev, 2013 (Cantharidae Malthininae), is illustrated and described here. Mimoplatycis marchettii sp. nov. is characterized by a transverse but interrupted carina in the middle of pronotum. The tribe is known from Baltic and Rovno amber, and the pronotum with carinae similar to Lycidae could be interpreted as mimicry. The pronotal shape is here indicated as a diagnostic character of the species level.