Protomauroania mikhailovi — a new species of malachite beetles (Coleoptera, Dasytidae) in Rovno amber

A new species of malachite beetles, Protomauroania mikhailovi Tshernyshev & Perkovsky, sp. n. is described from late Eocene Rovno amber. The new beetle is the second species of the Eocene fossil genus Protomauroania Tshernyshev, 2021 that was first recorded in Rovno amber and shows fauna similarity of dasytids in Baltic and Rovno amber. The new species is typical owing to the following characters: antennae with 5-segmented wide club, surface covered with darkbrown long semi-erect thin setae, and the ultimate ventrite (apical sternite) simple, narrow, not depressed. Digital high resolution pictures of the beetle are provided

A new genus of Podonominae (Diptera: Chironomidae) in Late Eocene Rovno amber from Ukraine

The genus Palaeoboreochlus Baranov et Andersen, n. gen. is erected based on P. inornatus Baranov et Andersen, n. sp. described from a male found in Late Eocene Rovno amber. The new genus groups with Boreochlus Edwards in the tribe "Boreochlini".publishedVersio

New genus and species of Aleyrodidae from Eocene Baltic amber (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha: Aleyrodomorpha)

A new genus Rovnodicus gen. n., with new species Rovnodicus wojciechowskii sp. n. is described from Eocene Rovno amber, Ukraine. It is placed in the subfamily Aleurodicinae. It is the first whitefly from this fossil source. Its morphological features and taxonomic position with respect to other Aleurodicinae from the Eocene are briefly discussed. The article outlines the influences of this finding on discussions of the origin, age and taxonomic similarities between Baltic amber from Ukraine and that from the Gulf of Gdańsk and Bitterfeld as well as on palaeoecological reconstructions of the fossil site. The name ‘Aleurochiton eozaenicus WEIGELT 1940’, mentioned as the fossil puparium of a whitefly from the Middle Eocene Geiseltal Fossillagerstätte appears to be nomen nudum

The first reliable fossil record of the tribe Centistini (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Euphorinae): a new subgenus and species of braconid wasp in Danish amber

A new subgenus and species of the braconid parasitoid of the tribe Centistini s. l. (Euphorinae), Centistoides (Palaeoides) magnioculus Belokobylskij, subgen. et sp. nov., from late Eocene Danish amber are described and illustrated from one female. This is the first time the tribe of euphorine parasitoids is reliably documented in the fossil record. A key to all genera and subgenera of this suprageneric taxonomic group is compiled. The discussion about position of the genus Parasyrrhizus Brues, composition of the tribe Centistini s. l., and the composition of the Danish amber hymenopteran fauna are provided

Protaphycus shuvalikovi Simutnik gen. et sp. nov. (Chalcidoidea, Encyrtidae, Encyrtinae) from Rovno amber

Protaphycus shuvalikovi Simutnik gen. et sp. nov., the smallest fossil Encyrtidae, is described and illustrated based on female specimen from late Eocene Rovno amber. Like most previously described Eocene Encyrtidae, the new taxon differs from the majority of extant encyrtids by the subapical position of the cerci, the relatively long marginal vein of the forewing, a distinctly swollen but not triangular parastigma, and a seta marking the apex of the postmarginal vein is not any longer than others on this vein. The new genus is characterized by the presence of a filum spinosum and the hypopygium reaching way past the apex of syntergum. This combination of the character states is known only in a few representatives of extant Encyrtinae. The new genus, probably, most closely related to the extant genus Aphycus Mayr, 1876

First fossil species of ship-timber beetles (Coleoptera, Lymexylidae) from Eocene Rovno amber (Ukraine)

A new lymexylid fossil species, †Raractocetus sverlilo Nazarenko, Perkovsky & Yamamoto, sp. nov., is described from late Eocene Rovno amber of Ukraine. This new species is similar to species of the recent genera Atractocerus Palisot de Beauvois and Raractocetus Kurosawa in the ship-timber beetle subfamily Atractocerinae, but differs in pronotal and elytral features. Notably, the new species is one of the smallest atractocerines known to date. This is the first member of the family Lymexylidae found in Rovno amber. Our finding sheds further light on the paleodiversity of atractocerine beetles, highlighting a peculiar distribution during the Eocene. Only one extant atractocerine specimen has been reported from Europe (Greece), while three species from Eocene European amber forests with equable climate are known now, including two species from the otherwise tropical genus Raractocetus. Our finding of the Raractocetus beetle from Rovno amber is of significant biogeographically because it indicates the wide distribution of the genus in the Eocene European amber forests

35 million-year-old solid-wood-borer beetle larvae support the idea of stressed Eocene amber forests

Eocene amber is an important window into the past about 35 million years ago. The large quantities of resin produced by this forest of the past, resulting in amber, triggered the idea of a forest under stress. Recent findings of higher abundances of hoverfly larvae in Eocene amber, in the modern fauna often associated with wood-borer larvae, provided a hint that wood-borer larvae may have contributed to this stress. Yet, so far only few such larvae have been reported. We have compiled a dozen additional wood-borer larvae in amber, including a giant one of at least 35 mm length in Rovno amber. Heavily damaged fossils furthermore indicate that larger larvae of this type were prone to oxidation and that, at least some, enigmatic tube-like tunnels in larger amber pieces may represent remains of large wood-borer larvae. This find strongly indicates that wood-borer larvae were not rare, but common in the Eocene amber forest, which is compatible with the high abundances of hoverfly larvae and further supports the idea of a forest under stress. Whether the possible higher abundances of wood-borer larvae were the cause of the stress or a symptom of an already stressed forest remains so far unclear

An unexpectedly abundant new genus of black flies (Diptera, Simuliidae) from Upper Cretaceous Taimyr amber of Ugolyak, with discussion of the early evolution of birds at high latitudes

Ugolyakia kaluginae gen. et sp. nov. is described from Ugolyak (Santonian Taimyr amber), based primarily on its unbranched Rs and developed katepisternal sulcus. It is attributed to the tribe Simuliini, although it lacks calcipala and spiniform seta on the costal vein characteristic of most genera of the tribe. Possession of a claw with a large subbasal tooth and absence of significant sclerotization of the sternites suggest that U.kaluginae females were blood-sucking avian parasites. Black flies make up 3% of all insect inclusions and 5% of all identifiable dipterans in Ugolyak amber. Only two Late Cretaceous black fly specimens were previously known. Feathers found at nearly all Cretaceous black fly sites (and at all formations with records of Simuliini) were younger than the Hauterivian. Ugolyak black flies are thought to have inhabited the same environments as Cretaceous ornithurine birds and most likely fed on them. These insects can then be used as an indicator of this bird community, allowing a better understanding of the Late Cretaceous forest ecology of Northern Asia. The inferred presence of Ornithuromorpha at high latitudes by the Early Cretaceous implies that their high growth rate may have evolved as an adaptation to a short yearly period of productivity (probably as a compensation for the poor light ability of their young). This further implies that advanced ornithuromorphs might have originated at higher latitudes; later, aquatic ornithuromorphs occupied niches in lower latitude regions with tropical climates such as the Chinese Jehol biota, to which they were preadapted. The inferred seasonality at higher latitudes during cold spells of the Early Cretaceous could further be viewed as a prerequisite for the evolutionary origin of the granivory

Rovnoscydmus

† Rovnoscydmus sp. specimen 9 (Figs 22, 161–164) Material studied. Late Eocene of Europe, Rovno amber: male; inclusion in elongate, subtriangular prism of amber 23.5 mm long (Fig. 22), collection number K-3322 (SIZK). Description. Body (Figs 161–164) elongate, slender and relatively strongly convex, brown; BL 1.10 mm. Head (Figs 161–164) visible only in lateral view, HL 0.23 mm; only sides of vertex and frons visible; compound eyes large, strongly convex, bean-shaped; tempora slightly shorter than eyes. Punctures on frons and vertex not visible; setae (Fig. 163) sparse, short and suberect. Antennae (Figs 161–164) slightly shorter than half BL, AnL 0.53 mm, antennal club not demarcated; antennomeres I–II strongly elongate, III–VII elongate (III only slightly), VIII–X about as long as broad or slightly transverse, XI much shorter than IX–X combined, about 1.6 × as long as broad, with rounded apex. Pronotum (Figs 161–164) visible only in lateral view, broadest site not possible to define; PL 0.28 mm, punctures and setae poorly visible. Elytra (161–164) elongate oval, strongly convex, broadest site not possible to define, EL 0.60 mm, punctures and setae poorly visible. Legs (Figs 161–164) moderately long, slender, unmodified. Remarks. This specimen is visible only in lateral view, but its measurements and proportions are similar to those of Rovnoscydmus species, the metacoxae are clearly separated from sides of metaventrite (Fig. 164), and the antennae are very similar to those of Rovnoscydmus frontalis. Examination in slightly lateroventral view revealed that the metaventral intercoxal process does not differ from that of Rovnoscydmus frontalis. Taking into account the shape of the head in lateral view very similar to that illustrated in Figs 124, 138 and 150, determination of the inclusion K-3322 as congeneric with Rovnoscydmus seems strongly supported. A unique feature of this specimen is the aedeagus (AeL 0.30 mm) protruding from the abdomen (Figs 161– 164). It demonstrates that Rovnoscydmus has the male copulatory organ typical for most Glandulariini, i.e., with slender parameres visible at both sides of the median lobe; it also seems to be symmetrical. Moreover, as this is the only unambiguously identified male of this genus, it also demonstrates that at least in this species of Rovnoscydmus no peculiar external secondary sexual characters exist.Published as part of Jałoszyński, Paweł & Perkovsky, Evgeny, 2016, Diversity of Scydmaeninae (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) in Upper Eocene Rovno amber, pp. 1-85 in Zootaxa 4157 (1) on pages 52-53, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4157.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/26241