Derinilipia, a new genus of Ripidiini from mid-Cretaceous amber of northern Myanmar (Coleoptera: Ripiphoridae)

The telephone-pole beetle family Micromalthidae has attracted the attention of entomologists and biologists because of its enigmatic morphology, systematic position, and complex life cycle. With only a single extant and four extinct species, the micromalthid beetles are a small but important lineage within the primitive suborder Archostemata. Fossil micromathids, known mainly from different amber deposits, are not commonly found. Here, I report the first Mesozoic fossil of the sole extant micromalthid genus Micromalthus in the mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber from northern Myanmar. Due to its rather poor preservation, this provisional new species remains unnamed, tentatively identified as Micromalthus sp. The newly found specimen is about 46 Ma older than an Eocene Micromalthus fossil from the Oise amber of France. My study greatly expands our knowledge of the origin and early evolution of Micromalthus beetles.

A fossil palpigrade is described and figured from mid-Cretaceous (Cenomanian) amber from northern Myanmar. Electrokoenenia yaksha Engel and Huang, gen. n. et sp. n., is the first Mesozoic fossil of its order and the only one known as an inclusion in amber, the only other fossil being a series of individuals encased in Pliocene onyx marble and 94-97 million years younger than E. yaksha. The genus is distinguished from other members of the order but is remarkably consistent in observable morphological details when compared to extant relatives, likely reflecting a consistent microhabitat and biological preferences over the last 100 million years.

Two new genera and two new species of Procercopidae, Paranthoscytina xiai gen. et sp. nov., and Burmocercopis lingpogensis gen. et sp. nov., are described and illustrated based on two well-preserved specimens in mid-Cretaceous amber (c. 99 Ma) from northern Myanmar. Our discovery represents the first record of amber-entombed Procercopidae from the Mesozoic, widening the duration and biogeographic distribution of this extinct family. They also represent the latest record of Procercopidae, which fills the gap of Cercopoidea evolution during the mid-Cretaceous.

The first predatory dance fly of the subfamily Ocydromiinae with specialized, raptorial legs in mid–Cretaceous amber from Myanmar (Diptera: Hybotidae)

A remarkable evanioid wasp in mid-Cretaceous amber from northern Myanmar (Hymenoptera: Evanioidea)

A new agamid lizard in mid-Cretaceous amber from northern Myanmar

The fossil records of Kateretidae from the Mesozoic are significant for understanding the origin and early evolution of the family. The recent discoveries of Cretaceous kateretids have provided valuable information about the palaeodiversity and morphological disparity of the taxa. Here, we establish a new genus and species of kateretid beetles, Scaporetes rectus gen. et sp. nov., based on a specimen preserved in mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber from northern Myanmar. The new species is characterized by its strongly enlarged scape and extremely small labrum. Our discovery highlights the morphological disparity of Kateretidae in the late Mesozoic.

First boganiine beetle in mid-Cretaceous amber from northern Myanmar (Coleoptera: Boganiidae)

Nine new scorpion specimens belonging to the extinct family Palaeoburmesebuthidae are documented from mid-Cretaceous Burmese (Kachin) amber from northern Myanmar. More accurate morphological details, including lateral ocelli, dentition of chela finger, leg tarsal armature, trichobothrial pattern, and subaculear tuberance, are provided. Based on new morphological evidence, the diagnostic characters for Betaburmesebuthus are revised, and Spinoburmesebuthus is suggested as a junior synonym of Betaburmesebuthus syn. nov. Additionally, two new species of Betaburmesebuthus, B. villosus sp. nov. and B. fuscus sp. nov., are described from Burmese amber.

A new species, namely Doratomantispa pouilloni sp. nov., of the mantidfly subfamily Doratomantispinae, is described and illustrated from a complete individual preserved in mid-Cretaceous amber from Tanai, northern Myanmar. Doratomantispa pouilloni sp. nov. preserves nearly all the diagnostic characters of this subfamily, but differs from the two other species of the genus Doratomantispa, inter alia, in its forelegs with stout trochanter, femora with nine spines on outer edge, two spines on inner edge, tibia with parallel sides, probasitarsomeres with around six pairs of black and thick spines; wings elongate and narrow, forewings with costal veinlets simple before ScP and RA fusion, coloration pattern present. Doratomantispa pouilloni sp. nov. highlights the diversity and the niche specialization of mid-Cretaceous Mantispidae from Tanai amber.

A new twisted-wing parasitoid from mid-Cretaceous amber of Myanmar (Strepsiptera)

Simple SummaryWe discovered an extinct handsome fungus beetle almost 100 million years old embedded in amber from Myanmar. Comparing and analyzing the characteristics of its body with those of other beetles of this family living today, we were able to find out which ones could be their closest relatives. What we discovered suggests that our beetle, representing a new genus and species, is a part of a group called “Higher Endomychidae”. This group shares some features with members of the family Coccinellidae, the well-known ladybugs or ladybirds. Our finding supports the hypothesis that handsome fungus beetles (family Endomychidae) originated at least at the beginning of the Cretaceous period, and most probably in the Jurassic, coinciding with the heyday of dinosaurs on earth.A new genus and species of the family Endomychidae (Coleoptera: Coccinelloidea): Cretostenotarsus striatus Tomaszewska, Szawaryn and Arriaga-Varela gen. et sp. nov. are described, diagnosed and illustrated from the mid-Cretaceous amber from northern Myanmar. To test the systematic placement of the new extinct genus and species within the family, a phylogenetic analysis was conducted. A dataset of 38 morphological characters scored for 29 species (including the new fossil taxon), members of Endomychidae sensu stricto and representatives of Coccinelloidea as outgroups were analyzed using maximum parsimony. The results of the analysis indicate unequivocally that Cretostenotarsus striatus is a member of the Stenotarsus clade within a monophyletic ‘endomychine complex’ sensu Robertson et al. (2015), which corresponds to ‘Higher Endomychidae’ sensu Tomaszewska (2005). The present discovery confirms at least the Jurassic origin of Coccinelloidea and indicates a much older origin of Endomychidae than previously hypothesized.

An enigmatic cucujiform beetle, Alloterocucus atratus Li, Leschen, Liu, and Cai gen. et sp. nov., is reported from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber. The character combination of the new fossil is not completely consistent with any of the known cucujoid or erotyloid families. Based on our phylogenetic analyses, Alloterocucus is assigned to Cucujoidea and may be allied to Lamingtoniidae, which contains a single Australasian genus in the extant fauna. Alloterocucus shares with Lamingtoniidae a similar habitus and a series of characters, including the absence of postocular constriction, 3-segmented antennal club, externally open procoxal cavities, laterally open mesocoxal cavities, exposed pro- and mesotrochantins, and the absence of epipleural fovea and pronotal setose cavities, but differs from extant Lamingtoniidae in its apically truncate terminal maxillary palpomeres, 5-5-4 tarsi in male and absence of distinct dorsal punctation.Zoobank registration[https://zoobank.org/], identifier [111CE15E-5B49-4154-9E4A-7B3A738C6D2A].

Recent findings of ommatids from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber have greatly increased our knowledge on the Mesozoic diversity of Ommatidae. Here, we report the first distinctly miniaturized ommatid species, Miniomma chenkuni gen. et sp. nov., entombed in mid-Cretaceous amber from northern Myanmar. This new fossil species is characterized by its small body size (less than 2 mm long) and subglobular metacoxae. Our discovery of miniaturization in extinct Ommatidae suggests a high ecological diversity of this family in the Mesozoic.

A new species of caddisfly, Neucentropus wichardi sp. nov., from the Neureclipsis cluster in the Polycentropodidae Ulmer, 1903 is described from the mid-Cretaceous amber of Myanmar. The original description of Electrocentropus dilucidus Wichard, 2021 is modified with further features. The absence of forewing fork IV and the fusion of the Sc and R1 before reaching the wing margin in both forewing and hindwing of Electrocentropus indicate that the genus is probably the sister group of all other genera of the Neureclipsis cluster. The fossil findings of Polycentropodidae from different geological periods are summarized in tabular form. The comparison shows a high diversity in the Cretaceous of the Neureclipsis cluster, but declined after the Mesozoic and was afterwards replaced by the strong Polycentropus cluster and the Cyrnus cluster.