Yuri Popov — as we remember him

Dr. Yuri Popov, born 5 March 1936, passed away 16 November 2016. Upon graduation from the Entomology Department of Moscow State University, he joined the Arthropoda Lab of the Paleontological Institute, where he studied fossil and living true bugs and their kin and became a major expert in that area. He was a man of many talents and had lots of friends all over the world. The few flashbacks collected here are but a small tribute to his memory

Description of a new species of Heleodromia (Diptera, Empididae, Hemerodromiinae) from Bitterfeld Amber

Heleodromia (Illiesiella) foveata spec. nov., eine aquatische Tanzfliege, wird anhand eines Männchens aus dem Bitterfelder Bernstein (Tertiär, Eozän) beschrieben und abgebildet. Die Art gehört in die Untergattung Illiesiella und unterscheidet sich von den rezenten Arten durch die Form des Genitals. Heleodromia (Illiesiella) foveata spec. nov. (male), an aquatic dance fly (Diptera, Empididae, Hemerodromiinae), is described and illustrated from the Eocene Bitterfeld amber. The species is a member of the subgenus Heleodromia (Illiesiella) and is distinguished from its recent congeners by the shape of the genitalia

A fossil nymphomyiid (Diptera) from the Baltic and Bitterfeld amber

Nymphomyia succina sp.n., the first fossil nymphomyiid fly (Diptera) from the Eocene Baltic and Bitterfeld amber is described and figured, based on four males. A probably conspecific female from the Baltic amber is also described and figured. With the discovery of this species, a gap in the distribution pattern of extant Nymphomyiidae is closed. It is probable that nymphomyiids colonized the eastern Nearctic Region via the Thule landbridge approximately 25-30 million years before present

Description of a Heleodromia-species (Diptera, Empididae, Hemerodromiinae) from the Bitterfeld amber

Heleodromia starki spec. nov. wird anhand eines Männchens aus dem Bitterfelder Bernstein (Tertiär, Eozän) beschrieben und abgebildet. Die rezenten Hemerodromiinae, zu denen auch die Gattung Heleodromia zählt, weisen eine enge Bindung an aquatische Lebensräume auf. Das hier beschriebene Taxon gehört zur Untergattung Heleodromia und unterscheidet sich von den rezenten Vertretern durch das (wahrscheinliche) Fehlen der Humeralquerader, die Gestalt des VIII. Tergites und die Genitalien. Zur gleichen Art zählen offensichtlich die in zwei Bernsteinen aus dem Baltikum aufgefundenen Heleodromia-Individuen (1♂, 1♀: 1♀), die ebenfalls beschrieben werden. Heleodromia starki spec. nov., a new aquatic dance fly (Diptera, Empididae, Hemerodromiinae) from the Eocene Bitterfeld amber, is described and figured. The taxon is a member of the subgenus Heleodromia (sensu stricto) and is distinguished from its recent congeners by the probable lack of a humeral cross-vein and by the shape of tergite VIII and the genitalia. Three further specimens from Baltic amber are probably conspecific with the species described here. They have been found in two pieces of amber (1♂, 1♀: 1♀)

Before the summer turns to winter: the third labidostommatid genus from Baltic amber has subtropical kin

Bertrand, M., Sidorchuk, E., Hoffeins, C. (2015): Before the summer turns to winter: the third labidostommatid genus from Baltic amber has subtropical kin. Acarologia 55 (3): 321-336, DOI: 10.1051/acarologia/20152170, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/acarologia/2015217

A new Acartophthalmites Hennig from Eocene Baltic amber (Diptera, Acalyptratae)

A new fossil fly species, Acartophthalmites willii sp. n. (Diptera: Acalyptratae: Opomyzoidea) from Baltic amber (Eocene, 56−33.9 Ma), is described based on a male originally assigned by Hennig (1969) to A. tertiaria Hennig, 1965, who erroneously also referred to it in the same work as “A. electrica Hennig” (unavailable name). The new species, representing the third named species of the extinct genus with unclear familial relationships Acartophthalmites Hennig, 1965, is herein described and illustrated in detail, and its systematic implications and relationships are discussed. From the morphological standpoint, the new species represents an intermediate form between the two formerly described species within the genus, therefore expanding the character combination diversity in this lineage of acalyptrate flies. The genus Acartophthalmites is considered to be most closely related to Clusiidae and, therefore, it is herein tentatively classified within the superfamily Opomyzoidea. The current work takes part of an effort to review the Acartophthalmites diversity in order to gain knowledge on the morphological data from the specimens described within the genus and ultimately enable a reliable analysis of its phylogenetic relationships with other acalyptrates