New fossil bee flies (Diptera: Bombylioidea) in the Lowermost Eocene amber of the Paris Basin

Abstract

A new genus and two new species of bee flies are described from the Lowermost Eocene amber of the Paris basin: Paradolichomyia eocenica n. gen, n. sp. (Bombyliidae: Toxophorinae) and Proplatypygus matilei n. sp. (Mythicomyiidae). Paradolichomyia eocenica n. gen, n. sp. represents the oldest fossil record of Bombyliidae. It is closely related to the two modern genera Dolichomyia WIEDEMANN 1830 and Zaclava HULL 1973 (Toxophorinae: Systropodini). This discovery suggests that the present Gondwanan distribution of the Systropodini is an artefact related to the climatic changes in the Tertiary. Proplatypygus matilei n. sp. appears to be more closely related to the Baltic amber species P. succineus HENNIG 1969 than to the Upper Cretaceous amber P. rohdendorfi ZAITZEV 1986