The first araripeneurine antlion in Burmese amber (Neuroptera: Myrmeleontidae)

Burmaneura minuta gen. et sp. nov., the first araripeneurine antlion in amber, is characterized, described and compared with the modern and Mesozoic Myrmeleontidae. The precise position of the fossil within this group is debatable. Interestingly, despite a rather rich fossil record, all Mesozoic Myrmeleontidae belong to subfamilies that are not recorded in the Cenozoic, although this might merely reflect the artificiality of the classification as the extinct groups may be paraphyletic with respect to their younger counterparts (e.g., Araripeneurinae may very well be nothing more than a stem group of no classificatory value).     

Colonization, succession, and nutrition of macrobenthic assemblages in a restored wetland at Tijuana Estuary, California

Modes of colonization, the successional trajectory, and trophic recovery of a macrofaunal community were analyzed over 19 months in the Friendship marsh, a 20-acre restored wetland in Tijuana Estuary, California. Traditional techniques for quantifying macrofaunal communities were combined with emerging stable isotopic approaches for evaluation of trophic recovery, making comparisons with a nearby natural Spartina foliosa habitat. Life history-based predictions successfully identified major colonization modes, although most taxa employed a variety of tactics for colonizing the restored marsh. The presence of S. foliosa did not seem to affect macrofaunal colonization or succession at the scale of this study. However, soil organic matter content in the restored marsh was positively correlated with insect densities, and high initial salinities may have limited the success of early colonists. Total macrofaunal densities recovered to natural marsh levels after 14 months and diversity, measured as species richness and the Shannon index (H′), was comparable to the natural marsh by 19 months. Some compositional disparities between the natural and created communities persisted after 19 months, including lower percentages of surface-feeding polychaetes (Polydora spp.) and higher percentages of dipteran insects and turbellarians in the Friendship marsh. As surficial structural similarity of infaunal communities between the Friendship and natural habitat was achieved, isotopic analyses revealed a simultaneous trajectory towards recovery of trophic structure. Enriched δ¹³C signatures of benthic microalgae and infauna, observed in the restored marsh shortly after establishment compared to natural Spartina habitat, recovered after 19 months. However, the depletion in δ¹⁵N signatures of macrofauna in the Friendship marsh indicated consumption of microalgae, particularly nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria, while macroalgae and Spartina made a larger contribution to macrofaunal diets in the natural habitat. Future successional studies must continue to develop and employ novel combinations of techniques for evaluating structural and functional recovery of disturbed and created habitats.     

Sumixam maximus gen. and sp. nov., a New Pennsylvanian Species of Archaeorthoptera (Neoptera; Indiana, USA)

A new Mazon-Creek-type fossil specimen is described as Sumixam maximus gen. and sp. nov., assigned to the taxon Archaeorthoptera Béthoux and Nel, 2002 (composed of Orthoptera and some fossil relatives): it exhibits one of the diagnostic character states of this taxon, which is the fusion of CuA (emerging from M + CuA) with CuP, or a branch of it. A more precise taxonomic assignment is out of reach. The new taxon exhibits a fusion of the anterior branch of MA with RP, and a point of divergence of MA and MP located near the point of divergence of CuA (from M + CuA), but lack a branching of CuPa. This unique combination of character states is probably derived with respect to a number of contemporaneous species. Sumixam maximus gen. and sp. nov. is most likely the closest known relative of the panorthopterans, which include all the recent Archaeorthoptera.     

A remarkable brachyceran fly (Diptera: Tabanomorpha) from Late Cretaceous Burmese amber

A new brachyceran fly (Diptera: Tabanomorpha), Pseudorhagio zhangi gen. et sp. nov., is described from Late Cretaceous Burmese amber. It is tentatively placed as Family incertae sedis in Tabanomorpha and distinguished from other Tabanomorpha by the following unusual combination of characters: head wider than thorax; body densely covered with fine and short setae, devoid of macrosetae; scutum strongly convex, nearly spherical; scutellum rather small, convex; antennal flagellum elongated, tapering, unsegmented; vein R4 perpendicular to R5, and strongly curved; crossvein m-m very long, strongly sinuated; tibial spur formula 0, 2, 0. This discovery further confirms the high diversity of Tabanomorpha in Late Cretaceous Burmese amber. An updated list of brachyceran species in Burmese amber is given.     

The first fossil Compsocidae from Cretaceous Burmese amber (Insecta, Psocoptera, Troctomorpha)

The first fossil record of the Compsocidae, Burmacompsocus perreaui gen. et sp. nov., is described from Late Albian Burmese amber. Its strong similarity to the two extant compsocid genera suggests a remarkable morphological stability within this group of 100 Ma. This family, now known only in Central America, was certainly more widespread in the past.     

A new species of Baikuris (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Sphecomyrminae) in mid-Cretaceous amber from France

A new species of the extinct ant genus Baikuris Dlussky, 1987 (Formicidae: Sphecomyrminae) is described and figured from a male preserved in a piece of ∼100 Myr amber from Charentes, in southwestern France. Baikuris maximus sp. nov., is distinguished from other species notably by its larger size, its forewing with vein 2M+Cu absent and vein 3Cu tubular, and the presence of a subpetiolar process. The diagnosis of the genus is emended, and its distribution during the Cretaceous is briefly discussed.     

蚊蝎蛉科化石在我国的首次发现

本文记述的长翅目蚊蝎蛉科(Bittacidae)昆虫化石在我国是首次发现,采自辽宁省北票市中侏罗统海房沟组。由于特征独特,建立了一个新属——辽蚊蝎蛉属(Liaobittacus gen. nov.),并讨论了蚊蝎蛉类的演化关系与迁移问题。     

A New Elaterid from the Middle Jurassic Daohugou Biota (Coleoptera: Elateridae: Protagrypninae)

A new genus and species of fossil elaterid namely Clavelater ningchengensis gen. et sp. nov. assigned to the subfamily Protagrypninae based on one specimen from the Middle Jurassic Jiulongshan Formation near Daohugou Village, Ningcheng County, Inner Mongolia, northeastern China is described and illustrated. This specimen displays a pair of large antennae that easily differs from those of most Mesozoic elaterids. There are around 36 species within 20 genera referred to elateroids described from the Early Jurassic to Miocene of China, with another three species within three genera reviewed, but the taxonomic assignment of at least seven species within three genera is doubted. The systematic position of fossil elateriform beetles reported from China is reviewed and the evolution of Mesozoic elateroids briefly discussed.     

A new Burmese amber hawker dragonfly helps to redefine the position of the aeshnopteran family Burmaeshnidae (Odonata: Anisoptera: Aeshnoidea)

The new genus and species Angustaeshna magnifica of Burmaeshnidae is described on the basis of a new fossil from Burmese amber. The genus Cretaeshna from the same amber is transferred from the Telephlebiidae into the Burmaeshnidae. We redefine this last family, no longer considered as the sister group of the Late Cretaceous Enigmaeshnidae, but as putative sister group of the Telephlebiidae in the Aeshnoidea. No known fossil belongs to the Telephlebiidae.