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Kateretidae is a beetle family with 15 reported fossil species, four of them with specialized antennal scape. Specialized scape represents a rare form of sexual dimorphism in Kateretidae. Here we report two new species with a special scape in males of Protokateretes Zhao, Huang and Cai, 2023, and one female individual of an unnamed species of Protokateretes. The discovery of new species provides a supplementary diagnosis of Protokateretes, and increases the biodiversity of the fossil genus. The high diversity of species in Protokateretes provides new insights into sexual dimorphism of Kateretidae in mid-Cretaceous, enriching the knowledge of potential courtship strategy of kateretid beetles in the late Mesozoic.

Nitidulidae is a polyphagan family with high biodiversity, wide distribution, and rich feeding habits. The richness of the tribes of the subfamily Nitidulinae, their diversity of identification characteristics, and subtle differences make it more difficult to conduct a taxonomic study of Nitidulinae in Cretaceous Burmese amber. Here we report a new genus and species of sap beetles in Burmese amber, Spinanitidula nigrumflavo Zhao & Cai gen. and sp. nov., that is clearly distinguished from all nitidulid subfamilies except Nitidulinae. We tentatively place Spinanitidula nigrumflavo gen. and sp. nov. in Nitidulinae and compare Spinanitidula in detail with representatives of all tribes in the subfamily. Furthermore, we found that, there are one row of spines on the inner and outer edges of protibiae, and four rows of spines and at least two rows of setae on meso- and metatibiae in the new species, which is different from extant nitidulids. Our discovery enriches the fossil record of Nitidulidae in mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber.

Several Coleoptera fossils, including Coptoclavidae, Elateridae, Ommatidae, and Staphylinidae, were previously described from the Jinju Formation (Albian), South Korea. However, numerous beetle fossils require further research to fully understand the biodiversity of this important Cretaceous deposit. In this study, we present an overview of the diversity of Coleoptera from the Jinju Formation. Future studies on beetles of the Jinju Formation will be divided into several parts corresponding to the major lineages found in this Albian deposit. In this first part, we introduce the geological context, review previous studies related to Coleoptera fossils from the Jinju Formation, and present specimens that will undergo detailed examination in subsequent papers.

Neither fossil nor living Jacobsoniidae are found in abundance. Derolathrus cavernicolus Peck, 2010 is recorded here preserved in Holocene copal from Tanzania with an age of 210¿±¿30 BP years. This leads us to three interesting conclusions: (1) This is the first time the family was found on the African continent, extending the family¿s distribution range to hitherto unknown localities. Derolathrus cavernicolus in Holocene copal from Tanzania expands the known distribution of the species, previously only recorded in the USA (Hawaii and Florida), Barbados, and Japan, both spatially and temporally. (2) All fossil specimens of the family have been found preserved in amber, which might be due to the small size of the specimens that prevents their discovery in other types of deposits. However, we here add a second aspect, namely the occurrence of this cryptic and currently scarce family of beetles in resinous environments, where they live in relationship with resin-producing trees. (3) The discovery of a new specimen from a family unknown on the African continent supports the relevance of these younger resins in preserving arthropods that lived in pre-Anthropocene times. Although we cannot demonstrate their extinction in the region, since it is possible that the family still survives in the already fragmented coastal forests of East Africa, we are detecting a loss of local biodiversity during the so-called Anthropocene, probably due to human activity.

Wenting Gong,1,* Wen Tang,2,* Lan Luo,3 Furong Zhang,1 Chenyang Cai,1 Jiangyan Zhang,1 Xiaolin Wu,4 Jianping Shang,4 Xiaolan Shu,2 Ting Wang,5 Danna Tu,6 Zhengjiang Jin,7,* Ronghao Zheng4,* 1Department of pharmacy, Maternal and Child Health Hospital of Hubei Province, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Maternal and Child Health Hospital of Hubei Province, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Child Health, Maternal and Child Health Hospital of Hubei Province, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Pediatric Nephrology, Rheumatology, and Immunology, Maternal and Child Health Hospital of Hubei Province, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, People’s Republic of China; 5Department of Pediatric Neurology, Maternal and Child Health Hospital of Hubei Province, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, People’s Republic of China; 6Department of Pediatric Cardiology, Maternal and Child Health Hospital of Hubei Province, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, People’s Republic of China; 7Department of Clinical Laboratory, Maternal and Child Health Hospital of Hubei Province, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Ronghao Zheng, Department of Pediatric Nephrology, Rheumatology, and Immunology, Maternal and Child Health Hospital of Hubei Province, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 745 Wu luo Road, Hongshan District, Wuhan, 430070, Hubei Province, People’s Republic of C

Insects comprise over half of all described animal species. Together with the Protura (coneheads), Collembola (springtails) and Diplura (two-pronged bristletails), insects form the Hexapoda, a terrestrial arthropod lineage characterised by possessing six legs. Exponential growth of genome-scale data for the hexapods has substantially altered our understanding of the origin and evolution of insect biodiversity. Phylogenomics has provided a new framework for reconstructing insect evolutionary history, resolving their position among the arthropods and some long-standing internal controversies such as the placement of the termites, twisted-winged insects, lice and fleas. However, despite the greatly increased size of phylogenomic datasets, contentious relationships among key insect clades remain unresolved. Further advances in insect phylogeny cannot rely on increased depth and breadth of genome and taxon sequencing. Improved modelling of the substitution process is fundamental to countering tree-reconstruction artefacts, while gene content, modelling of duplications and deletions, and comparative morphology all provide complementary lines of evidence to test hypotheses emerging from the analysis of sequence data. Finally, the integration of molecular and morphological data is key to the incorporation of fossil species within insect phylogeny. The emerging integrated framework of insect evolution will help explain the origins of insect megadiversity in terms of the evolution of their body plan, species diversity and ecology. Future studies of insect phylogeny should build upon an experimental, hypothesis-driven approach where the robustness of hypotheses generated is tested against increasingly realistic evolutionary models as well as complementary sources of phylogenetic evidence.

Recently, we are witnessing an increased appreciation for the importance of the fossil record in phylogenetics and testing various evolutionary hypotheses. However, this approach brings many challenges, especially for such a complex group as aphids and requires a thorough morphological analysis of the extinct groups. The extinct aphid family Szelegiewicziidae is supposed to be one of the oviparous lineages in aphid evolution. New material from the rock fossil deposits of Shar Teg (Upper Jurassic of Mongolia), Baissa (Lower Cretaceous of Siberia-Russia), and Burmese amber (Upper Cretaceous of Myanmar) allowed us to undertake a more detailed examination of the morphological features and carry out an analysis of the taxonomical composition and evolution of the family. This led us to the conclusion that evolution of the body plan and wing structure was similar in different, often not closely related groups, probably as a result of convergence. Additionally, we present a description of a new genus and two species (Tinaphis mongolica Żyła &Wegierek, sp. nov., and Feroorbis burmensis Wegierek & Huang, gen. et sp. nov.) that belong to this family.