A new genus of predatory midge in the \u3ci\u3eMonohelea\u3c/i\u3e complex from Eocene Baltic amber (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae)

Monogedania, a new fossil monotypic genus of predatory midge (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) is described from Eocene Baltic amber and its position within the Monohelea complex is discussed. We dis­covered that the membranous portion of the aedeagus is extended in Monogedania clunipes (Loew), new combination, which suggests that the aedeagus of some extinct predatory midges can be penis-like. The Eocene Monohelea baltica Szadziewski, is transferred to the genus Schizohelea Kieffer, new combination, and, the previously unknown female is described, and key characters are included in color photographs of its entire habitus, head, distal hind tarsomeres and claws. The Monohelea complex is a world-wide group of predatory midges that includes six genera in the tribe Cerato­pogonini (Wirth and Grogan 1988). Their larvae are aquatic or semiaquatic in mainly small bodies of water and prey on aquatic larvae of a variety of insects. Adult females in this tribe are predators of mostly small nematocer­ous flies. This complex includes 232 extant species (Borkent and Dominiak 2020). Biting midges of this complex are rare in ambers worldwide (Szadziewski 2018). There are only two named species in the genus Monohelea Kieffer from Eocene Baltic amber (Szadziewski 1988). However, an enigmatic specimen of the genus Austrohelea Wirth and Grogan (sex unknown, no description or illustration) was reported by Schmidt et al. (2018) from Oligocene/Miocene amber of New Zealand; and a species from Eocene Australian (Anglesea) amber of an unde­termined genus (Peñalver et al. 2021) may belong to this complex. It is worth noting that in Upper Cretaceous Canadian and Siberian ambers there are species in the fossil genus Peronehelea Borkent (Borkent 1995), that resemble species in the Monohelea complex. Females of Peronehelea have enlarged hind legs and hind claws, how­ever, males in this genus have abdominal tergite 9 with distinct apicolateral processes which are absent or greatly reduced in males of the Monohelea complex. Females of Peronehelea have enlarged hind legs and hind claws, however, males in this genus have abdominal tergite 9 with distinct apicolateral processes which are absent or greatly reduced in males of the Monohelea complex (Szadziewski 1996). Two species from Eocene Baltic amber assigned to Monohelea by Szadziewski (1988) do not entirely resemble any of the genera in the revised Monohelea complex proposed by Wirth and Grogan (1988). Herein, we transfer these two extinct species from Monohelea, to Schizohelea Kieffer (Kieffer 1917), and, the new genus Monogedania, that we describe and illustrate

Genomic-Phenomic Reciprocal Illumination: Desyopone hereon gen. et sp. nov., an Exceptional Aneuretine-like Fossil Ant from Ethiopian Amber (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Ponerinae) †

Simple Summary: We describe a new species of extinct ants from Miocene-aged Ethiopian amber, based on males that resemble species of the relictual lineage Aneuretinae, but which effectively belong to the Ponerinae, as revealed by advanced 3D-imaging technology (synchrotron radiation micro-computed tomography, SR-µ-CT). We subsequently propose a revision of ant classification at the subfamily level. We also recognize that the new species belongs to a new genus based on recent phylogenomic results that have clarified the generic boundaries of Ponerini ants. Our work, therefore, represents an example of reciprocal illumination between phenomic and genomic data. Abstract: Fossils are critical for understanding the evolutionary diversification, turnover, and morphological disparification of extant lineages. While fossils cannot be sequenced, phenome-scale data may be generated using micro-computed tomography (µ-CT), thus revealing hidden structures and internal anatomy, when preserved. Here, we adduce the male caste of a new fossil ant species from Miocene Ethiopian amber that resembles members of the Aneuretinae, matching the operational definition of the subfamily. Through the use of synchrotron radiation for µ-CT, we critically test the aneuretine-identity hypothesis. Our results indicate that the new fossils do not belong to the Aneuretinae, but rather the Ponerini (Ponerinae). Informed by recent phylogenomic studies, we were able to place the fossils close to the extant genus Cryptopone based on logical character analysis, with the two uniquely sharing absence of the subpetiolar process among all ponerine genera. Consequently, we: (1) revise the male-based key to the global ant subfamilies; (2) revise the definitions of Aneuretinae, Ponerinae, Platythyreini, and Ponerini; (3) discuss the evolution of ant mandibles; and (4) describe the fossils as † Desyopone hereon gen. et sp. nov. Our study highlights the value of males for ant systematics and the tremendous potential of phenomic imaging technologies for the study of ant evolution

A new giant dung midge from Miocene Ethiopian amber (Diptera: Scatopsidae)

Szadziewski, Ryszard, Bojarski, Błażej, Sontag, Elżbieta, Szwedo, Jacek (2022): A new giant dung midge from Miocene Ethiopian amber (Diptera: Scatopsidae). Zootaxa 5099 (5): 549-562, DOI: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5099.5.

A new genus of predatory midge in the Monohelea complex from Eocene Baltic amber (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae)

Monogedania, a new fossil monotypic genus of predatory midge (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) is described from Eocene Baltic amber and its position within the Monohelea complex is discussed. We discovered that the membranous portion of the aedeagus is extended in Monogedania clunipes (Loew), new combination, which suggests that the aedeagus of some extinct predatory midges can be penis-like. The Eocene Monohelea baltica Szadziewski, is transferred to the genus Schizohelea Kieffer, new combination, and, the previously unknown female is described, and key characters are included in color photographs of its entire habitus, head, distal hind tarsomeres and claws

The genus Allodia (Diptera: Mycetophilidae) in Miocene Ethiopian amber

International audienceA new, extinct species of Allodia Winnertz is described from early Miocene amber of Ethiopia. Allodia paleoafricana sp. nov. is mostly characterized by the scutum with strong anteromarginal, dorsocentral, and lateral setae and the wing with the stem of the M-fork slightly shorter than the vein r-m and the base of the M4-CuA fork aligned with the base of r-m. The assignment to any of the two subgenera Allodia stricto sensu or Brachycampta Winnertz remains equivocal as the fossil intermingles traits found in both taxa. Allodia is known mostly from the Palearctic region, while only a few species have been described from Africa. In this regard, the new fossil species from Ethiopia brings significant new information regarding the Afrotropical distribution and natural history of the genus

Genomic-Phenomic Reciprocal Illumination: Desyopone hereon gen. et sp. nov., an Exceptional Aneuretine-like Fossil Ant from Ethiopian Amber (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Ponerinae)

Fossils are critical for understanding the evolutionary diversification, turnover, and morphological disparification of extant lineages. While fossils cannot be sequenced, phenome-scale data may be generated using micro-computed tomography (µ-CT), thus revealing hidden structures and internal anatomy, when preserved. Here, we adduce the male caste of a new fossil ant species from Miocene Ethiopian amber that resembles members of the Aneuretinae, matching the operational definition of the subfamily. Through the use of synchrotron radiation for µ-CT, we critically test the aneuretine-identity hypothesis. Our results indicate that the new fossils do not belong to the Aneuretinae, but rather the Ponerini (Ponerinae). Informed by recent phylogenomic studies, we were able to place the fossils close to the extant genus Cryptopone based on logical character analysis, with the two uniquely sharing absence of the subpetiolar process among all ponerine genera. Consequently, we: (1) revise the male-based key to the global ant subfamilies; (2) revise the definitions of Aneuretinae, Ponerinae, Platythyreini, and Ponerini; (3) discuss the evolution of ant mandibles; and (4) describe the fossils as †Desyopone hereon gen. et sp. nov. Our study highlights the value of males for ant systematics and the tremendous potential of phenomic imaging technologies for the study of ant evolution

Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Miocene Ethiopian amber: filling gaps in the geological record of African terrestrial biota

International audienceThe Early Miocene (16–23 Mya) amber of Ethiopia constitutes a new source of fossil ants for Africa, where they are otherwise poorly documented. Here we report a diversified assemblage of six subfamilies and at least 19 genera that are still predominantly alive in the Afrotropics today. In this first account, a particular reference is made to the subfamily Dolichoderinae, with the description of two new species: Technomyrmex svojtkai Perrichot & Engel sp. nov. and Ravavy goldmani Boudinot & Perrichot sp. nov. The first is illustrated and described based on synchrotron-radiation microcomputed tomography, and the second represents the first fossil record for the tribe Bothriomyrmecini and Ravavy, a Malagasy and Afrotropical genus that was hitherto monotypic. The ant composition in Ethiopian amber is congruent with the global pattern emerging across ants and showing a Neogene diversification almost exclusively within extant genera

What is Ethiopian amber telling us about Miocene African forest ecosystem?

The amber fossil record is distributed worldwide but mainly supported by Northern Hemisphere deposits.The Southern Hemisphere amber fossil record is relatively scarce, due to difficulties of access andprospection. The African continent recently revealed two new amber outcrops. Previously, fossiliferous andnon fossiliferous copals were known from Africa, as well as older fossilised resins lacking fossil inclusions1.The Cretaceous resin from Congo, and the Cenozoic resin from Ethiopia, are the first African ambers knownto display arthropod and botanical inclusions.When first mentioned in 20102, the Ethiopian amber was suggested Cretaceous. This dating was rapidlyquestioned by the modern lineage taxa, described from the fossilized resin3,4. Those rather display a Cenozoicassemblage. Palynological data and field observations corroborate this revision and further indicate aMiocene age of the amber. The resin originates from an angiosperm, probably Hymenaea (Fabaceae), assuggested by its chemical signal, and the associated botanical inclusions. Cryptogam and arthropod inclusions(mainly Hymenoptera and Diptera) already display a large diversity of modern taxa. All together, fossilisedspecimens illustrate a subtropical, hot and humid, swamp forest ecosystem. Similarities with the botanicaland entomofaunal composition of the contemporaneous Dominican and Mexican ambers, suggest anaffinities between African and American Miocene ecosystems.References1. Bouju V., Perrichot P. 2020: BSGF Earth Sci. Bull., 191 (17); doi:10.1051/bsgf/20200182. Schmidt A.R. et al. 2010: Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 107 (16), 7329 7334; doi:10.1073/pnas.10009481073. Coty D. et al. 2016: Ann. Soc. entomol. Fr., 52 (3), 161 166; doi:10.1080/00379271.2016.12304774. Perrichot V. et al. 2016: The age and paleobiota of Ethiopian amber revisited, in 5th InternationalPaleontological Congress

What is Ethiopian amber telling us about Miocene African forest ecosystem?

The amber fossil record is distributed worldwide but mainly supported by Northern Hemisphere deposits.The Southern Hemisphere amber fossil record is relatively scarce, due to difficulties of access andprospection. The African continent recently revealed two new amber outcrops. Previously, fossiliferous andnon fossiliferous copals were known from Africa, as well as older fossilised resins lacking fossil inclusions1.The Cretaceous resin from Congo, and the Cenozoic resin from Ethiopia, are the first African ambers knownto display arthropod and botanical inclusions.When first mentioned in 20102, the Ethiopian amber was suggested Cretaceous. This dating was rapidlyquestioned by the modern lineage taxa, described from the fossilized resin3,4. Those rather display a Cenozoicassemblage. Palynological data and field observations corroborate this revision and further indicate aMiocene age of the amber. The resin originates from an angiosperm, probably Hymenaea (Fabaceae), assuggested by its chemical signal, and the associated botanical inclusions. Cryptogam and arthropod inclusions(mainly Hymenoptera and Diptera) already display a large diversity of modern taxa. All together, fossilisedspecimens illustrate a subtropical, hot and humid, swamp forest ecosystem. Similarities with the botanicaland entomofaunal composition of the contemporaneous Dominican and Mexican ambers, suggest anaffinities between African and American Miocene ecosystems.References1. Bouju V., Perrichot P. 2020: BSGF Earth Sci. Bull., 191 (17); doi:10.1051/bsgf/20200182. Schmidt A.R. et al. 2010: Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 107 (16), 7329 7334; doi:10.1073/pnas.10009481073. Coty D. et al. 2016: Ann. Soc. entomol. Fr., 52 (3), 161 166; doi:10.1080/00379271.2016.12304774. Perrichot V. et al. 2016: The age and paleobiota of Ethiopian amber revisited, in 5th InternationalPaleontological Congress