The oldest fossil biting midge (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) from the Purbeck Limestone Group (Lower Cretaceous) of southern Great Britain

Abstract

ABSTRACT The oldest fossil Ceratopogonidae, Archiaustroconops besti sp. n., dated at 142 million years old, is described from the Purbeck Limestone Group of Dorset, southern England, United Kingdom. Represented by a single wing, it belongs to a lineage within the family, indicating that the fossil subfamily Lebanoculicoidinae, the earliest lineage, may be expected in even earlier deposits. The wing, like those of all early fossil Ceratopogonidae is small, less than 1 mm in length.