European Amber Research Articles

Discovery of Atomaria saxonica (Coleoptera: Cryptophagidae) in Rovno amber and Eocene silken fungus beetles diversity

Atomaria saxonica Lyubarsky et Perkovsky, 2018, a first cryptophagid species from Bitterfeld amber, is redescribed after its discovery in Rovno amber. European amber cryptophagids are listed. Cryptophagids (18 species) are the most diverse group of mycophagous beetles in European amber.

Ceratonotha, a new erotylid genus (Coleoptera, Erotylidae) from late Eocene amber.

Ceratonotha danica gen. nov., sp. nov., a new genus and species of Erotylidae (Coleoptera), is described and illustrated from Eocene Danish amber. Ceratonotha is morphologically similar to fossil erotylids from European amber, differing from them mainly in the length of the 4th tarsomere. Cycadophila mumia Alekseev & Bukejs, 2017, described from Baltic amber, belongs in this new genus and is here transferred, becoming Ceratonotha mumia (Alekseev & Bukejs) comb. nov..

New and little-known Mantophasmatidae (Insecta: Mantophasmatodea) from European amber.

Two new species of gladiators are described from European amber, namely Raptophasma neli sp. nov. and Adicophasma hafniensis sp. nov. from Baltic and Danish amber, respectively. Two names are resurrected from synonyms: Adicophasma Engel & Grimaldi, 2004, nom. resurr. and A. spinosum Engel & Grimaldi, 2004, nom. resurr. Original combination is restored for A. grylloblattoides Arillo & Engel, 2006, comb. resurr. Adicophasma groehni (Zompro, 2008), comb. nov. is tranferred from Raptophasma to Adicophasma. As a result, the ancient subfamily Raptophasmatinae nowadays consists of one Jurassic monotypic genus and two Eocene genera with six species from European amber.

Metal-for-Amber in the European Bronze Age

Abstract Baltic amber is often considered the principal Scandinavian commodity exchanged for metal from ore-rich regions in Europe. If correct, this may explain the astonishing metal wealth of the Nordic Bronze Age and the modest social consumption of amber locally. The hypothesis of a metal-for-amber principle behind the trade is here for the first time assessed on scales from micro to macro. Amber finds were charted across Europe, and the result was then compared to evidence for regular shifts in copper ore preferences/availability, as found in the systematically changing isotopic/elemental composition of Nordic metal objects in c. 2100–1200 BC. Comparisons indicate that amber and metal followed similar spatiotemporal trajectories with major reorganizations at the turn from the Early to the Middle Bronze Age. Shifts in amber distribution correlate with the geography of metal sources used in both periods and flows of metal to Scandinavia and amber to Europe appear to be contingent even in subperiods. Major European amber tracks – and the crossroads hubs controlling them – were identified for the transfer of goods, yet again revealing major changes at the transition to the Middle Bronze Age. The social roles and meanings of amber among Nordic communities were likewise examined, suggesting that bearers of amber played a role in exercising social control of this resource. It is concluded that amber almost certainly was exchanged for metal.

Two New Aphaenogaster Species (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) from Baltic Amber

Aphaenogaster groehni Radchenko, sp. n. and A. ribbeckei Radchenko, sp. n., are described from the Late Eocene Baltic amber, each based on the holotype worker. Aphaenogaster groehni Radchenko, sp. n. differs from previously described species from the Late Eocene European ambers by a distinctly narrowed posteriorly head without pronounced occipital corners and a longer antennal scape, and A. ribbeckei Radchenko, sp. n. differs by a more slender mesosoma. The taxonomic position of the new species is discussed.

A new Acrulia species from Danish amber (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Omaliinae: Omaliini)

ABSTRACT Acrulia danica Shavrin sp. n. from late Eocene Danish amber is described and illustrated based on a female holotype. The new species, embedded within a small piece of amber, was scanned using X-ray micro-computed tomography (μCT), to enable the detailed study of its morphology including the taxonomically important structure of the accessory sclerite. Previously, only three extant species of the genus Acrulia Thomson, 1858 were known from the Palaearctic Region. The new species is compared with extant congeners and the importance of a detailed study of the fossil entomofauna of the Danish amber is discussed in view of the hypotheses about its different origin from other European ambers. urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:67972F3A-DF6A-48D5-A4BD-96EF8AA87DCF

First record of Archaeocercoides puchkovi Simutnik, 2022 (Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea, Encyrtidae) from late Eocene Danish amber

Encyrtidae are one of the largest and most diverse families of chalcidoid wasps found both today (Noyes, 2023) and in Eocene ambers (Simutnik, 2021; Simutnik & Perkovsky, 2023). The earliest known Encyrtidae have been found in middle Eocene Sakhalinian amber (Simutnik, 2021; Simutnik et al., 2021b). They differ significantly from both extant encyrtids as well as those occurring in late Eocene European ambers, many of which feature peculiar characters (Simutnik et al., 2020, 2023; Simutnik, 2021). To date, some 20 species in 18 extinct genera of Encyrtidae have been described from late Eocene Baltic, Danish and Rovno ambers (Simutnik et al., 2021a, 2022c, 2023; Simutnik & Perkovsky, 2023).

A new fossil species of Nausibius (Coleoptera: Silvanidae) in Rovno amber: a beetle from Eocene forests with congeners thriving in warehouses today

A new species of silvanid flat bark beetle, Nausibius radchenkoi sp. nov., is described and illustrated based on a well-preserved inclusion in Eocene Rovno amber. It is the first fossil species of Nausibius, a cosmopolitan genus with representatives living worldwide today. The current finding confirms both the Eocene age of the genus and the presence of representatives of the genus in forest palaeoecosystems of Europe in that time. In addition, Austronausibius aenigmatista Alekseev & Bukejs, 2022, previously described from Rovno amber, is documented in Baltic amber for the first time. Thirteen common species of Coleoptera (including one newly recorded here) known from these two East European ambers are listed. The newly described species, as well as some other beetle taxa in Eocene European habitats (where Rovno and Baltic ambers were produced), have several congeners that live today in artificial synanthropic habitats, namely warehouses storing various food products.

Diversity Phenomenon of the Danaceinae Malachite Beetle Subfamily (Coleoptera: Dasytidae) in Eocene Baltic Amber with a New Description of an Extinct Genus and Species

A new malachite beetle, Baltamauroania mirabilicornis gen. et sp. nov., belonging to the tribe Amauroniodini (Coleoptera: Dasytidae) embedded in Eocene Baltic amber is described and illustrated. The new genus differs from the congeners of the tribe Amauroniodini in possessing a black, elongated, and subparallel body and a pronotum with scalloped lateral sides; long and 11-segmented antennae, with three apical antennomeres enlarged and forming a ‘club’ shape, with cylindrical antennomere 1; tarsi shortened and compressed, 5-segmented, with tarsomeres 1 and 2 equal in length, and tarsomere 5 the longest in all legs; pubescence of the dorsal surface consisting of short strong brown semi-erect and fine adpressed setae; punctation of dorsal surface irregular, elytra lacking grooves; pronotum almost equilateral, slightly elongated, with acute anterior and obtuse posterior angles, with wide margination of basal side and with scalloped and finely margined lateral sides; lateral edges of pronotum weakly rounded, with obtuse protuberance before middle. This is the second extinct genus and third record of the subfamily Danaceinae found in Eocene amber. The fossil records of the family Dasytidae are discussed. Three recent records of different Amauroniodini taxa from Eocene East European amber (Baltic and Rovno) show there to have been a high Danaceinae biodiversity in both the southern coast of the Subparatethys (documented by Rovno amber) and in its northern coast (documented by Baltic amber). The phenomenon of Danaceinae diversity in the Eocene Epoch is discussed.

A new Mesozoic record of the pseudoscorpion family Garypinidae from Upper Cretaceous (Santonian) Ajkaite amber, Ajka area, Hungary

Pseudoscorpions have a sparse fossil record although they are among the oldest terrestrial lineages with origins extending to the Devonian (ca. 390 Ma). Amongst the 25 extant families of pseudoscorpions, only 14 are known from fossils, most of which are preserved in European ambers from the Eocene. Fossil pseudoscorpions from the Cretaceous of Europe have only been reported from three localities, Archingeay amber (France), from the Rhenish Massif (Germany), and from Álava and Teruel amber (Spain), but only one of these has ever been formally described. Here we add a new fossil pseudoscorpion genus and species, Ajkagarypinus stephani gen. et sp. nov., from an Upper Cretaceous (Santonian, ca. 86.3–83.6 Ma) amber deposit in the Ajka Coal Formation (Ajka area, Hungary), the so-called Ajkaite. This fossil extends the spatial range of the pseudoscorpion family Garypinidae and suggests that they might have been widespread in the whole Eurasian landmasses under humid, subtropical climatic conditions.

New records of the subgenus Atomaria (Anchicera) Thomson, 1863 from European amber with description of the new species

ABSTRACT One new extinct species of the genus Atomaria Stephens, 1829 is described and illustrated: A. (Anchicera) telnovi sp. nov. from Rovno amber. It is the sixth species of the subgenus Anchicera in Eocene amber; two-thirds of all species and two-thirds of all reported Eocene amber silken fungus beetle specimens belong to this subgenus. The reasons for the relative abundance of Anchicera in the Eocene fossil resins are discussed. A key to extinct Eocene species of Atomaria is provided.

Unexpected Diversity of Xenoscelinae in Priabonian European Amber: The Third Xenosceline Species from Rovno Amber.

Xenophagus simutniki sp. n. is described from a late Eocene Rovno amber specimen. The new species is similar to the fossil Xenophagus popovi Lyubarsky et Perkovsky, 2017 from the late Eocene Baltic amber (W Russia), differing in the medially notched anterior margin of the pronotum. The Rovno xenosceline fauna is the richest among both extant and extinct faunas. This fauna includes the extinct genera Xenophagus Lyubarsky & Perkovsky, 2017 and Xenohimatium Lyubarsky & Perkovsky, 2012, which are closest to the extant Mediterranean Xenoscelis Wollaston 1864 and the representative of the extant boreal genus Zavaljus Reitter, 1880. A key to extinct species of the subfamily Xenoscelinae is presented. The possible reasons of xenoscelines abundance in European amber forests are discussed.

New species of Tanaidacea from Cretaceous Kachin amber, with a brief review of the fossil record of tanaidacean crustaceans

Tanaidaceans are benthic, mostly marine, crustaceans that live burrowed in the substrate or in self-built tubes. The fossil record of Tanaidacea reaches back to the Carboniferous, 350 million years ago, but it is especially species-rich in Cretaceous amber sites from Spain and France. We report and formally describe a new species of Tanaidacea from 100-million-year-old Kachin amber, from the Hukawng Valley, Northern Myanmar, the first record of Cretaceous tanaidaceans outside Europe. The combination of character states of Tanaidaurum kachinensisgen. nov. et sp. nov. suggests that the new species is a representative of the early diversification of an unnamed group (Paratanaoidea+Tanaidoidea), an ingroup of the monophyletic group Tanaidomorpha. We briefly review the biased fossil record of Tanaidacea and present its abundance in European amber sites.

A New Ant Genus (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) from the Late Eocene Rovno Amber

Based on workers from the Late Eocene Rovno amber (Ukraine), Damzenomyrmex gen. n. (Dlichoderinae) is established to include Damzenomyrmex ribbeckei sp. n., which is described here. I consider Damzenomyrmex to be a relative of Dolichoderus s. l. and assign it to the tribe Dolichoderini. Damzenomyrmex differs well from representatives of the previously established subgenera (genera) of Dolichoderus s. l., such as Dolichoderus s. str., Karawajewella, Acanthoclinea, Monoceratoclinea and Diceratoclinea by the nature of the mesosomal armature. It differs from the species of Hypoclinea in the presence of horn-like projections on the anterolateral corners of the pronotum. Regarding the last character, Damzenomyrmex reminds the species of Monacis, but readily differs from them by the non-concave posterior propodeal margin, a different shape of the petiolar scale, a not laterally marginated mesonotum, and some other characters. Furthermore, Damzenomyrmex differs from all Dolichoderus s. l. species in the cuticular structure and in the serration pattern of the mandibles, with the masticatory margin having 6–7 minor sharp teeth and a much longer apical one, the basal angle distinct and the basal margin lacking teeth or denticles. The comparative composition of Dolichoderinae and representatives of other ant subfamilies in late Eocene European ambers is considered.

Two new fossil species of the genus Atomaria Stephens (Coleoptera: Cryptophagidae) from Eocene European amber with a key to species described from fossil resins

Two new extinct species of the genus Atomaria Stephens, 1829 are described and illustrated: A. (Anchicera) alekseevi sp. nov. from Baltic amber and A. (Anchicera) perkovskyi sp. nov. from Rovno amber. A key to extinct Eocene species of Atomaria is provided.

A new species of Bocchus from upper Eocene Rovno amber (Hymenoptera, Dryinidae)

A new fossil species of Dryinidae (Hymenoptera, Chrysidoidea) from upper Eocene Rovno amber (Ukraine) is described: Bocchus rexsp. nov. It is compared with two other species of Bocchus known from European amber: B. primaevus Martins & Melo from Baltic amber and B. schmalhauseni Perkovsky, Olmi, Vasilenko, Capradossi & Guglielmino from Rovno amber. A new key to the Cretaceous and Paleogene species of Bocchus is presented. The Dryininae are the most common representatives in all the amber dryinid faunas since the mid-Cretaceous. The Rovno amber fauna is an exception; possible explanations for the abundance of Bocchus species within this amber are presented.

Morphology and Putative Ecology of Eocene Ant Agroecomyrmex duisburgi (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Agroecomyrmecinae)

Agroecomyrmecinae is a poorly-known subfamily of ants that includes just two extant genera and species, Tatuidris tatusia Brown et Kempf, 1968, a leaf-litter dweller from the Neotropics, and Ankylomyrma coronacantha Bolton, 1973, an arboreal inhabitant from West Africa. Two Agroecomyrmecinae genera have been described from Eocene fossils: Agroecomyrmex Wheeler, 1910 found in European amber (Baltic and Bitterfeld), and Eulithomyrmex Carpenter, 1935 found in North American shale (Florissant). There are published records of just seven specimens of Agroecomyrmex duisburgi (Mayr, 1868), the sole member of its genus. We found four additional A. duisburgi specimens, three from Baltic amber and one from Rovno (Ukraine) amber of similar age (Priabonian stage, 37.8–33.9 Ma). This increases number of known ant subfamilies in Rovno amber to 10, and indicates that Agroecomyrmecinae were distributed in the late Eocene on both the northern and southern coasts of the Paratethys Sea. Based on morphological features and the rarity of fossil remains, we suggest that Agroecomyrmex and Eulithomyrmex were most likely neither litter-dwelling nor arboreal, but were epigean species, living on the soil surface.

Extant genus of flat bark beetle (Coleoptera: Silvanidae) with a present-day Australian-southern South American disjunction discovered in Eocene Rovno amber.

Austronausibius aenigmatista sp. nov., the first fossil silvanid beetle belonging to the Recent genus Austronausibius Halstead distributed in Australia and southern South America, is described from late Eocene Rovno amber. The new fossil species is illustrated and compared with related extant and morphologically close extinct taxa. A key to species of fossil Silvanidae known from Eocene East European amber (Baltic and Rovno) is provided.

First fossil species of ship-timber beetles (Coleoptera, Lymexylidae) from Eocene Rovno amber (Ukraine)

A new lymexylid fossil species, †Raractocetus sverlilo Nazarenko, Perkovsky & Yamamoto, sp. nov., is described from late Eocene Rovno amber of Ukraine. This new species is similar to species of the recent genera Atractocerus Palisot de Beauvois and Raractocetus Kurosawa in the ship-timber beetle subfamily Atractocerinae, but differs in pronotal and elytral features. Notably, the new species is one of the smallest atractocerines known to date. This is the first member of the family Lymexylidae found in Rovno amber. Our finding sheds further light on the paleodiversity of atractocerine beetles, highlighting a peculiar distribution during the Eocene. Only one extant atractocerine specimen has been reported from Europe (Greece), while three species from Eocene European amber forests with equable climate are known now, including two species from the otherwise tropical genus Raractocetus. Our finding of the Raractocetus beetle from Rovno amber is of significant biogeographically because it indicates the wide distribution of the genus in the Eocene European amber forests.

The first fossil of the pseudoscorpion family Ideoroncidae (Arachnida: Pseudoscorpiones): A new taxon from the mid-Cretaceous of northern Myanmar

Pseudoscorpions have a sparse fossil record although they are among the oldest terrestrial lineages with origins that go back to the Devonian (ca. 385 Ma). Amongst the 25 extant families of pseudoscorpions, only 14 are known from fossils, most of which are preserved in European ambers from the Eocene. Burmese amber from the Cenomanian (mid-Cretaceous) of northern Myanmar is an important source of Mesozoic pseudoscorpion fossils but only six species have been described from this amber to date. In this paper, we establish the first fossil record for the pseudoscorpion family Ideoroncidae Chamberlin, 1930, which is coequally the oldest record of the pseudoscorpion superfamily Neobisioidea. The new genus Proalbiorix is established for the two species P. gracilis sp. nov. and P. compactus sp. nov. which already show all diagnostic features of members belonging to this family to date. Interestingly, Proalbiorix shows morphological features that align the fossils with present-day fauna from the Americas and Africa rather than Asia, which has biogeographical implications. Overall, the description provides another example of relative morphological stasis of pseudoscorpions compared to other arachnid lineages such as spiders, and that all major clades of pseudoscorpions were established long before the Cretaceous.