Morphological and palaeoecological aspects of fossil insects unveiled by UV-A light

Abstract

Studying insect fossils, particularly those preserved as compressions in sedimentary matrices, can be difficult due to the taphonomic processes that often result to poor preservation and contrast of structures compared to the embedding matrix. To address this, we propose a user-friendly and simple methodology based on UV-light to study insect fossils and select specimens of interest for more advanced imagery exploration. While UV-light imaging has been previously applied to compressions of arthropod fossils, it typically involved laser light sources. Our approach allows the investigation of fossils using an affordable, compact, and portable UV-light source, along with a simple and replicable low-cost protocol.•The methodology is based on UV-light induced natural fluorescence of sediment and fossil remains.•UV-light is effective on compression fossils to gain natural contrast and enhance observation of body structures like veins or setae on wings.•UV-light is effective to reveal palaeoecological information such as pollen grains preserved on specimens, especially near or on putative pollinator or pollen-eating taxa.