Abstract
A new species of fossil mermithid,Cretacimermis aphidophilussp. n. (Nematoda: Mermithidae), is described from the primitive extinct aphid,Caulinus burmitis(Hemiptera: Burmitaphididae), in mid-Cretaceous Myanmar amber. Aphid parasitism by mermithid nematodes is rare today with only two known cases involving root-feeding aphids. Based on the habits of the parasitised extant aphid hosts, it is likely that the fossil aphid was also a root parasite and encountered the infective stage mermithid in the soil. Such fossils provide rare glimpses of nematode-host associations from the distant past and provide minimum dates for the appearance of specific mermithid clades.
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