New Transitional Fleas from China Highlighting Diversity of Early Cretaceous Ectoparasitic Insects

SummaryFleas are a group of highly specialized blood-feeding ectoparasites whose early evolutionary history is poorly known [1, 2]. Although several recent discoveries have shed new light on the origin of the group [3, 4], a considerable gap exists between stem fleas and crown fleas. Here we report a new transitional flea, Saurophthirus exquisitus sp. nov., assigned to a new family Saurophthiridae fam. nov., from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of northeastern China. Saurophthirids are more similar to crown fleas than other stem fleas in having a relatively small body size, relatively short and slender piercing-sucking stylet mouthparts, comparably short and compact antennae, rows of short and stiff bristles on the thorax, and highly elongated legs. The new finding greatly improves our understanding of the morphological transition to the highly specialized body plan of extant fleas. However, saurophthirids also display several features unknown in other fleas, and some of these features are suggestive of a possible ectoparasitic relationship to contemporaneous pterosaurs, though other possibilities exist. The new fossils, in conjunction with previous discoveries, highlight a broad diversity of ectoparasitic insects in the mid-Mesozoic

A total-evidence approach to dating with fossils, applied to the early radiation of the Hymenoptera

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Testing cladograms by fossil record: the ghost range test

A method of the ghost range calculation is proposed to assess the congruence between a cladogram and the fossil record and to compare cladograms on this basis. The method is tested on a set of cladograms developed recently to reveal the phylogeny of the hymenopterous insects (Order Vespida), and the results are discussed

Comments On The Proposed Revocation Of Article 74.7.3 Of The Code Lectotype Designation)

Volume: 58Start Page: 300End Page: 30

Xyela (Pinicolites) lata Smith (Vespida: Xyelidae), a living fossil sawfly from western North America

Volume: 73Start Page: 231End Page: 23

New fossil records of Xyelidae (Hymenoptera) from the Middle Jurassic of Inner Mongolia, China

A new genus and two new species of Xyelidae Newman, 1834 (Hymenoptera Linnaeus, 1758), Platyxyela tenuis sp. nov. and Scleroxyela daohugouensis gen. et sp. nov. are described and illustrated from the Middle Jurassic Daohugou Beds of Ningcheng, Inner Mongolia, China. Platyxyela tenuis sp. nov. (Xyelinae Newman, 1834, Liadoxyelini Rasnitsyn, 1966) can be distinguished from its congeners by short forewing length and ovipositor sheath strongly narrowed toward acute apex. Scleroxyela daohugouensis gen. et sp. nov. is placed within Macroxyelinae Ashmead, 1898, Xyeleciini Benson, 1945 based on pterositigma completely sclerotised and costal space sclerotised before ptrostigma, 1-Rs half as long as 1-M, and 1m-cu short. It is the fi rst recorded species of Xyeleciini in Daohugou Beds. Furthermore, an updated key of identifi cation of subfamilies and tribes of Xyelidae is provided. Our fi ndings of new morphological data provide insights into the early evolution of Hymenoptera, as well as eff ectively enrich our understanding of the diversity of Xyelidae in the Mesozoic.</p

New fossil records of Xyelidae (Hymenoptera) from the Middle Jurassic of Inner Mongolia, China – Corrigendum

A new genus and two new species of Xyelidae Newman, 1834 (Hymenoptera Linnaeus, 1758), Platyxyela tenuis sp. nov. and Scleroxyela daohugouensis gen. et sp. nov. are described and illustrated from the Middle Jurassic Daohugou Beds of Ningcheng, Inner Mongolia, China. Platyxyela tenuis sp. nov. (Xyelinae Newman, 1834, Liadoxyelini Rasnitsyn, 1966) can be distinguished from its congeners by short forewing length and ovipositor sheath strongly narrowed toward acute apex. Scleroxyela daohugouensis gen. et sp. nov. is placed within Macroxyelinae Ashmead, 1898, Xyeleciini Benson, 1945 based on pterositigma completely sclerotised and costal space sclerotised before ptrostigma, 1-Rs half as long as 1-M, and 1m-cu short. It is the fi rst recorded species of Xyeleciini in Daohugou Beds. Furthermore, an updated key of identifi cation of subfamilies and tribes of Xyelidae is provided. Our fi ndings of new morphological data provide insights into the early evolution of Hymenoptera, as well as eff ectively enrich our understanding of the diversity of Xyelidae in the Mesozoic.</p

(Hymenoptera: Sphecidae)

Volume: 9Start Page: 209End Page: 20

Data from: A new Cretaceous genus of xyelydid sawfly illuminating nygmata evolution in Hymenoptera

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