The Earliest Corotocini (Insecta: Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) from Dominican Amber, with Remarks on Post-Imaginal Growth Influence on Termitophile Taxonomy.

Abstract

Simple SummaryThe tribe Corotocini is one of the most diverse and morphologically specialized groups of rove beetles associated with termites. All species of Corotocini present some degree of membranous enlargement of the abdomen, called physogastry. The development of physogastry occurs after the beetle emerges from the pupa as an ordinary beetle and is accompanied by further modifications related to its sclerotized parts, which makes the early stages (stenogastrics) strikingly different from the fully developed forms (physogastrics). The present study reports the very first fossil record for Corotocini, with a new genus and species, Pareburniola dominicana gen. et. sp. nov., from Miocene Dominican Republic amber. The fossil is represented by a stenogastric individual, which poses challenges in the taxa description since the last stage of development remains unknown. We utilize the current knowledge of post-imaginal growth in Corotocini to understand what is likely and not likely to change in the morphology during this phenomenon.Pareburniola dominicana Zilberman, Yin & Cai gen. et. sp. nov. is the very first fossil record of the tribe Corotocini, reported from Miocene Dominican Republic amber. The new species, which is based on a stenogastric individual, is described and illustrated and is included in the subtribe Corotocina due to the combination of a tarsal formula 4-4-4, an elongated gula, a developed labial palp, a reduced fourth palpomere, separated metacoxae and a glandular structure on the posterior region of the head. Since the taxon belongs to the physogastric tribe Corotocini, which presents post-imaginal growth, this phenomenon is herein discussed, and its current knowledge is used to understand the possible outcomes during morphological changes in the fossil species.