A case of mistaken identification of an amber fossil male strepsipteran (Insecta: Strepsiptera) |
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| Authors: | M Kogan G Poinar Jr JL Cook |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Horticulture, Integrated Plant Protection Center, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USAkoganm@science.oregonstate.edu;3. Department of Zoology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA;4. Department of Biological Sciences, Texas Research Institute for Environmental Studies, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX 77341-2448, USA |
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| Abstract: | A well-preserved specimen of amber Strepsiptera was erroneously described as Stylops neotropicallis Kogan and Poinar, 2010. The taxonomic position of the species was based on a count of six antennomeres (typical of the Stylopidae); however, further observations showed that there are actually seven antennomeres, which places the fossil in the family Myrmecolacidae, and it is herein redescribed in the genus Palaeomyrmecolax Kulicka, 2001. Furthermore, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy analysis of a sample of the amber piece containing the fossil revealed that it was Baltic rather than Dominican amber as originally thought. The fossil was compared with another specimen from Baltic amber in the Poinar collection, which shows close affinity to Palaeomyrmecolax succineus Kulicka, 2001, the type species of the genus. Palaeomyrmecolax neotropicallis (n.comb.) differs from that specimen and seems to differ also from the other four species in the genus Palaeomyrmecolax. |
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| Keywords: | Stylops neotropicallis Myrmecolacidae Palaeomyrmecolax Palaeomyrmecolax succineus Baltic amber |
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