Haematophagous Arthropods in Baltic Amber

Abstract

Haematophagous i.e. blood-feeding or blood-sucking arthropods described from Paleogene Baltic amber are reviewed and commented on. Arthropods feeding on blood from mammals and birds, and occasionally on reptiles and amphibians, are reported as inclusions in fossil resins dated back to the Lower Cretaceous. Eocene Baltic amber from deposits in the Gulf of Gdańsk, Rovno and Bitterfeld, dated from 35 to 50 million years ago, contains 48 fossil species of blood-feeding arthropods placed in extant and extinct genera. Haematophagous fossil arthropods from Acari (1 species), Phthiraptera ( ), Siphonaptera (4), and Diptera (43 species) are reported in Baltic amber. Blood-sucking flies are represented by six families: Ceratopogonidae (11), Corethrellidae (5), Culicidae (5), Psychodidae (5), Simuliidae (9), and Tabanidae (8 species). The percentage of species of blood-sucking dipterans in the Baltic amber forest was similar to that in the extant fauna of Poland (3.4%, and 3.2%, respectively). A catalogue of named haematophagous arthropods reported from Baltic amber is provided.