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Braconid parasitoid wasps are a widely diversified group today, while their fossil record from the Mesozoic is currently poorly known. Here, we describe Utrillabracon electropteron Álvarez-Parra & Engel, gen. et sp. nov., from the upper Albian (Lower Cretaceous) amber of San Just in the eastern Iberian Peninsula. The holotype specimen is incomplete, although the forewing and hind wing venation are well preserved. The new taxon is assigned to the subfamily †Protorhyssalinae (Braconidae) and, based on characteristics of the wing venation, seems to be closely related to Protorhyssalus goldmani Basibuyuk & Quicke, 1999 and Diorhyssalus allani (Brues, 1937), both from Upper Cretaceous ambers of North America. We discuss the taxonomy of the Cretaceous braconids, considering †Seneciobraconinae as a valid subfamily. We also comment on possible relationships within †Protorhyssalinae, although a phylogenetic analysis is necessary. Additionally, a checklist is included of braconids known from Cretaceous ambers.

When a vertebrate carcass begins its decay in terrestrial environments, a succession of different necrophagous arthropod species, mainly insects, are attracted. Trophic aspects of the Mesozoic environments are of great comparative interest, to understand similarities and differences with extant counterparts. Here, we comprehensively study several exceptional Cretaceous amber pieces, in order to determine the early necrophagy by insects (flies in our case) on lizard specimens, ca. 99 Ma old. To obtain well-supported palaeoecological data from our amber assemblages, special attention has been paid in the analysis of the taphonomy, succession (stratigraphy), and content of the different amber layers, originally resin flows. In this respect, we revisited the concept of syninclusion, establishing two categories to make the palaeoecological inferences more accurate: eusyninclusions and parasyninclusions. We observe that resin acted as a “necrophagous trap”. The lack of dipteran larvae and the presence of phorid flies indicates decay was in an early stage when the process was recorded. Similar patterns to those in our Cretaceous cases have been observed in Miocene ambers and actualistic experiments using sticky traps, which also act as “necrophagous traps”; for example, we observed that flies were indicative of the early necrophagous stage, but also ants. In contrast, the absence of ants in our Late Cretaceous cases confirms the rareness of ants during the Cretaceous and suggests that early ants lacked this trophic strategy, possibly related to their sociability and recruitment foraging strategies, which developed later in the dimensions we know them today. This situation potentially made necrophagy by insects less efficient in the Mesozoic.

[spa] El objetivo de esta Tesis Doctoral es el estudio de los yacimientos de ámbar de la Cuenca del Maestrazgo con foco en la tafonomía, el paleoambiente, el contenido paleobiológico y la paleoecología. En esta cuenca se ha hallado ámbar con bioinclusiones en cuatro yacimientos: Ariño (Albiense inferior), San Just (Albiense superior), Arroyo de la Pascueta (Albiense superior) y La Hoya (Cenomaniense inferior). Una línea de investigación principal ha sido el estudio tafonómico del ámbar del nivel AR-1 de Ariño. Este nivel se localiza en la Mina Santa María (Ariño, Teruel), se ha asignado a la Formación Escucha, se ha interpretado como una llanura pantanosa bajo un clima tropical o subtropical y ha proporcionado un rico y diverso registro fósil. Además, en este nivel se han diferenciado una capa inferior con piezas de ámbar de raíz in situ en relación con el lugar de producción de la resina, y una capa superior rica en ámbar aéreo con bioinclusiones. El registro de bioinclusiones del ámbar de Ariño incluye insectos de 11 órdenes diferentes, un fragmento de pluma de dinosaurio y pelo de mamífero. Las características tafonómicas del registro fósil del yacimiento de Ariño, correspondiente al nivel AR-1, han permitido tipificarlo como autóctono-parautóctono. Las peculiaridades geoquímicas y de conservación del ámbar de Ariño podrían apuntar hacia un paleoambiente en el que los árboles resiníferos vivieron bajo un fuerte estrés ambiental, quizás relacionado con encharcamientos o inundaciones seguidos de desecaciones de forma periódica. El estudio pluridisciplinar del registro fósil del yacimiento de Ariño ha proporcionado información clave sobre sus características paleoecológicas. Los yacimientos de ámbar de San Just (Utrillas, Teruel), Arroyo de la Pascueta (Rubielos de Mora, Teruel) y La Hoya (Cortes de Arenoso, Castellón) se han asignado al “Grupo Utrillas” y comparten características tafonómicas y paleoambientales. Los tres yacimientos se han interpretado como parautóctonos y sus paleoambientes se han relacionado con lagunas costeras bajo un clima árido. El ámbar de San Just es el más rico en bioinclusiones de la Cuenca del Maestrazgo, e incluye insectos de 12 órdenes diferentes y fragmentos de plumas de dinosaurio. Además, el yacimiento de San Just es la localidad tipo de 26 especies de artrópodos. Los ámbares de Arroyo de la Pascueta y La Hoya son pobres en bioinclusiones. Se han observado diferencias entre los registros de bioinclusiones de los ámbares de Ariño y San Just, probablemente debido a las diferencias en sus edades y paleoambientes. Se han identificado coocurrencias taxonómicas a nivel de especie en varios ámbares de la península ibérica, lo que puede indicar una posible conexión entre los bosques resiníferos de estas áreas. Como se ha indicado en investigaciones anteriores, los registros de bioinclusiones de los ámbares de la península ibérica en general, y de la Cuenca del Maestrazgo en particular, muestran coocurrencias de géneros de insectos con los ámbares del Barremiense del Líbano y del Cenomaniense de Myanmar. A partir de los análisis espectroscópicos y geoquímicos de los ámbares de la Cuenca del Maestrazgo se ha inferido que los árboles productores de resina en esta región durante la mitad del Cretácico pertenecieron a la familia de coníferas Araucariaceae. El Cretácico fue un periodo en el que se dieron las condiciones ambientales adecuadas para la producción en masa de resina, además del depósito de las piezas de resina resultantes, al menos en algunas regiones, como en la Cuenca del Maestrazgo durante la mitad del Cretácico. Los factores abióticos y bióticos implicados probablemente estuvieron interrelacionados. La aplicación de técnicas bioinformáticas en el estudio de la distribución de bosques resiníferos podría proporcionar nueva información sobre los factores clave involucrados en la producción en masa de resina., [eng] The objective of this PhD Thesis is the study of the amber-bearing outcrops from the Maestrazgo Basin with a focus on the taphonomy, palaeoenvironment, palaeobiological content and palaeoecology. In this basin, amber with bioinclsuions has been found in four localities: Ariño (lower Albian), San Just (upper Albian), Arroyo de la Pascueta (upper Albian) and La Hoya (lower Cenomanian). The level AR-1, in the Santa María Mine, has been assigned to the Escucha Formation, interpreted as a swamp plain under a tropical or subtropical climate, and provided a rich and diverse fossil record. A lower layer with root amber pieces, interpreted as in situ in relation to the place of resin production, and an upper layer rich in aerial amber with bioinclusions, have been differentiated in this level. The bioinclusion record includes insects, a fragment of a dinosaur feather, and mammalian hair. The taphonomic characteristics have allowed it to be classified as autochthonous-parautochthonous. The geochemical and taphonomic peculiarities of the Ariño amber could point out palaeoenvironment in which resiniferous trees lived under high environmental stress. The amber outcrops of San Just, Arroyo de la Pascueta, and La Hoya have been assigned to the “Utrillas Group”. They have been interpreted as parautochthonous, and their palaeoenvironments have been related to coastal lagoons under an arid climate. The bioinclusion records of the Ariño and San Just ambers show differences, probably due to their different ages and palaeoenvironments. Taxonomic co-occurrences have been identified in different Spanish ambers, indicating a possible connection between the resiniferous forests. The bioinclusion records of the ambers from the Iberian Peninsula show co-occurrences of insect genera with the ambers from the Barremian of Lebanon and the Cenomanian of Myanmar. Spectroscopic and geochemical analyses on the studied ambers allow to infer that the resin-producing trees belonged to Araucariaceae. The Cretaceous was a period with suitable environmental conditions for the resin mass production occurred. These factors were probably interrelated. The application of bioinformatics techniques on the study of the resiniferous forest distribution may provide new information on the key factors involved in the resin mass production.

The species Pleuroceratos tertius sp. nov. from Cretaceous Burmese amber is described, illustrated and compared with similar known species., Pleuroceratos tertius sp. nov. est décrite à partir d’un morceau d’ambre Birman du Crétacé, illustrée et comparée aux espèces proches.

Barklice are insects belonging to the order Psocodea. They are herbivorous or detritivorous, and inhabit a wide range of environments. Their oldest fossil record dates back to the late Carboniferous, but it was not until the Cretaceous that they became much more diverse. However, their fossil record could be affected by taphonomic processes due to their tiny size and soft bodies. Here, we present new psocid specimens from five amber-bearing outcrops in Spain that are Albian in age. One of the specimens, a well-preserved psocid nymph assigned to ¿Archaeatropidae, lacks evidence of debris-carrying behaviour. Some of the specimens belong to the previously known species Archaeatropos alavensis Baz & Ortuño and Preempheria antiqua Baz & Ortuño (Trogiomorpha: Atropetae), providing new anatomical and biogeographical information. Furthermore, we describe a new species, Libanoglaris hespericus sp. nov. (¿Archaeatropidae). The diagnosis for the family ¿Archaeatropidae is emended. The abundance of psocids in Cretaceous amber and their virtual absence in compression outcrops could be due to taphonomic bias. Considerations on the phylogenetic placement of trogiomorphan families and the relationships between ¿Archaeatropidae and ¿Empheriidae are included. Today, the least diverse psocid suborder is Trogiomorpha, but this suborder comprises the majority of the Cretaceous psocodean species described to date, possibly due to palaeobiological or evolutionary constraints. Trogiomorphans could have been relegated to marginal habitats by niche competition with psocomorphans. Debris-carrying behaviour in response to predatory pressure might not have been widely distributed, geographically or phylogenetically, in the Cretaceous psocid nymphs.

Fossil records of vertebrate integuments are relatively common in both rocks, as compressions, and amber, as inclusions. The integument remains, mainly the Mesozoic ones, are of great interest due to the panoply of palaeobiological information they can provide. We describe two Spanish Cretaceous amber pieces that are of taphonomic importance, one bearing avian dinosaur feather remains and the other, mammalian hair. The preserved feather remains originated from an avian dinosaur resting in contact with a stalactite-shaped resin emission for the time it took for the fresh resin to harden. The second piece shows three hair strands recorded on a surface of desiccation, with the characteristic scale pattern exceptionally well preserved and the strands aligned together, which can be considered the record of a tuft. These assemblages were recorded through a rare biostratinomic process we call “pull off vestiture” that is different from the typical resin entrapment and embedding of organisms and biological remains, and unique to resins. The peculiarity of this process is supported by actualistic observations using sticky traps in Madagascar. Lastly, we reinterpret some exceptional records from the literature in the light of that process, thus bringing new insight to the taphonomic and palaeoecological understanding of the circumstances of their origins.

National audience; L’ambre est une formidable source de données pour la reconstitution des écosystèmesterrestres anciens, mais sa distribution géographique et stratigraphique demeurelacunaire. En Afrique, l’ambre est relativement rare et le plus souvent dépourvud’inclusions organiques fossiles. Le premier ambre crétacé fossilifère africain,découvert récemment dans la chaine du Mayombe, en République du Congo, estprésenté ici.L’ambre s’est accumulé avec des débris végétaux dans le terme argilo-dolomitique quiconstitue la partie supérieure de la Formation Chéla (un équivalent du membre Vembode la Formation Gamba du Gabon) et daté de l’Aptien moyen par l’étude de soncontenu micropaléontologique (palynomorphes et ostracodes). La caractérisation del’ambre par thermochimiolyse couplée à la spectrométrie de masse (THM-GC-MS)indique une résine de classe Ib typique des gymnospermes, et plus particulièrement desfamilles de conifères Araucariaceae, Cupressaceae, Podocarpaceae, etCheirolepidiaceae. Les bois fossilisés trouvés avec l’ambre sont attribuables aux genresAgathoxylon et Brachyoxylon, tandis que les gen- res Araucariacites et Classopollis(ce dernier abondant) sont présents parmi les palynomorphes, suggérant uneAraucariaceae ou une Cheirolepidiaceae comme plante source de la résine.L’ambre du Congo se présente majoritairement sous la forme de galets de couleur rougesombre, peu translucides. La prospection et l’étude d’inclusions fossiles, réalisées aumoyen de la microscopie standard et de l’imagerie synchrotron, ont permis ladécouverte d’une faune diversifiée d’arachnides (Acari: Gustavioidea, Anystoidea;Araneae), d’insectes (Hyme- noptera: Evaniidae, Platygastroidea; Hemiptera:Aleyrodidae; Psocoptera: Trogiomorpha; Diptera: Chironomidae), ainsi que denombreux débris végétaux, fongiques, et bactériens. Certaines de ces inclusions et laforme en galet des morceaux d’ambre suggèrent un piégeage dans la résinepréférentiellement au niveau du sol.Les études sédimentologiques et taphonomiques indiquent un dépôt de l’ambre et desdébris végétaux en milieu lacustre, dans un bassin interne connecté épisodiquement àl’océan, et sous un paléoclimat chaud avec une saisonnalité marquée.

Journal of South American earth sciences 120, 104055 (2022). doi:10.1016/j.jsames.2022.104055, We report a fossil geometrid moth, a male, virtually complete, preserved in a clear piece of Miocene Dominican amber dating from 19 to 16 Mya. Fore- and hindwings appear partially overlapped, and all body characters are visible externally in dorsal and ventral views, including the outer surface of the valvae of the genitalia. The scale pattern on the wing membrane is preserved, whereas the wing color pattern is not. It belongs to the genus Dolichoneura (Geometridae: Desmobathrinae) and is named Dolichoneura jorelisae Sarto i Monteys, Hausmann, Baixeras and Peñalver sp. n., based on wing features. Because of the poor fossil record of lepidopterans, both in amber and compression rocks, the description of the available well-preserved specimens is of considerable interest for phylogenetic studies. Furthermore, it could also serve for calibrating molecular clocks and for paleobiogeographic inferences., Published by Elsevier Science, Amsterdam [u.a.]

Une étude portant sur la collection des ambres conservée au département des Antiquités grecques, étrusques et romaines du musée du Louvre a été réalisée à l’occasion du réaménagement des réserves. De nombreuses informations sur les techniques de fabrication des objets et sur la morphologie de leurs altérations ont été rassemblées et viennent enrichir la connaissance des œuvres. Des examens approfondis ont pu être menés grâce, notamment, à la microscopie numérique. A study about the amber collection in the Department of Greek, Etruscan and Roman Antiquities at the Louvre was conducted when the storerooms were refurbished. Information garnered about the manufacturing techniques used on the artefacts and the morphology of their alterations has increased our knowledge of the works. Extensive tests were carried out using digital microscopy.

[EN] Terrestrial isopods (Crustacea: Oniscidea) are a model group for studying the colonization of land. However, their fossil record is remarkably scarce and restricted to amber inclusions, and therefore amber deposits represent valuable windows to their past diversity and morphology. Here we present a new collection of 11 terrestrial isopod specimens preserved in Albian-aged amber from the Peñacerrada I outcrop, northern Spain, which collectively represent the most thoroughly documented fauna of Mesozoic Oniscidea. The three new genera and species identified belong to three of five major groups of the Oniscidea: Eoligiiscus tarraconensis, new genus and species (Ligiidae), Autrigoniscus resinicola, new genus and species (Synocheta: Trichoniscidae), and Heraclitus helenae, new genus and species (Crinocheta: Detonidae?). These taxa significantly expand the known fossil record of Oniscidea and demonstrate that considerable cladogenesis had already transpired by the Albian. The assemblage represents the earliest-known diversification of Oniscidea, extending direct evidence of terrestrialization in the group back to the late Early Cretaceous. These new taxa exhibit some characteristics that may inform hypotheses relating to general patterns of terrestrial isopod evolution. A discussion is provided about different aspects of the paleoecology and biology of the fossils compared to the Recent fauna. The new species indicate that Cretaceous isopods were a group of considerable adaptive diversity, exhibiting innovations analogous to what Recent isopods would exhibit 105 million years later., A.S.-G. is funded by an APOSTD2019 Research Fellowship from the Generalitat Valenciana and the European Social Fund (ESF). This study is a contribution to the Spanish AEI/FEDER, UE Project CRE (CGL2017-84419).

International audience

Actuopaleontology is an essential discipline to understand the fossil record. It uses the present as a key to understand the past. Actualistic paleontology has been largely used in a vast array of paleontological fields such as ichnology, paleoart or functional morphology. Given its relevance in current and past paleontological studies, here we examine the advantages of this discipline, focusing in four recent works. In them, the study of contemporary groups allows us to know better if it is possible: to know how reliable is amber when studying extinct arthropods communities; to make trophic inferences about extinct elasmobranchs by dental microwear analysis; to reconstruct the morphology of certain fishes depending on its ecological niche or to find the type of flight in extinct birds considering their humerus morphology.

Dinosaur bonebeds with amber content, yet scarce, offer a superior wealth and quality of data on ancient terrestrial ecosystems. However, the preserved palaeodiversity and/or taphonomic characteristics of these exceptional localities had hitherto limited their palaeobiological potential. Here we describe the amber from the Lower Cretaceous dinosaur bonebed of Ariño (Teruel, Spain) using a multidisciplinary approach. Amber is found in both a root layer with amber strictly in situ and a litter layer namely composed of aerial pieces unusually rich in bioinclusions, encompassing 11 insect orders, arachnids, and a few plant and vertebrate remains, including a feather. Additional palaeontological data ‒ charophytes, palynomorphs, ostracods‒ are provided. Ariño arguably represents the most prolific and palaeobiologically diverse locality in which fossiliferous amber and a dinosaur bonebed have been found in association, and the only one known where the vast majority of the palaeontological assemblage suffered no or low-grade pre-burial transport. That has enabled unlocking unprecedentedly complete and reliable palaeoecological data out of two complementary windows of preservation from the same site.

The predaceous beetle family Thanerocleridae is one of the smallest families of Cleroidea. It comprises only 36 extant species widespread on all continents. Three more species have been described from Cretaceous ambers of Myanmar and France. The fourth fossil representative of Thanerocleridae is described herein. Thanerosus antiquus gen. and sp. nov. is based on one fossil specimen preserved in an amber piece from Upper Cretaceous Kachin amber. The holotype was imaged using an X-ray micro-CT system to obtain high-quality 3D images. A phylogenetic analysis based on 33 morphological characters supports the placement of the new genus at the basal position in a tree of Thanerocleridae, in the vicinity of extant Zenodosus Wolcott and three extinct Mesozoic genera with which the new fossil shares open procoxal and mesocoxal cavities and transverse procoxae. We offer here a key to all extant and extinct genera in the family together with a complete list of all valid thaneroclerid taxa.

Motivation for this comment Recently, the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (SVP) has sent around a letter, dated 21st April, 2020 to more than 300 palaeontological journals, signed by the President, Vice President and a former President of the society (Rayfield et al. 2020). The signatories of this letter request significant changes to the common practices in palaeontology. With our present, multi-authored comment, we aim to argue why these suggestions will not lead to improvement of both practice and ethics of palaeontological research but, conversely, hamper its further development. Although we disagree with most contents of the SVP letter, we appreciate this initiative to discuss scientific practices and the underlying ethics. Here, we consider different aspects of the suggestions by Rayfield et al. (2020) in which we see weaknesses and dangers. It is our intent to compile views from many different fields of palaeontology, as our discipline is (and should remain) pluralistic. This contribution deals with the aspects concerning Myanmar amber. Reference is made to Haug et al. (2020a) for another comment on aspects concerning amateur palaeontologists/ citizen scientists/private collectors.

The loss of biodiversity during the Anthropocene is a constant topic of discussion, especially in the top biodiversity hotspots, such as Madagascar. In this regard, the study of preserved organisms through time, like those included in "Madagascar copal", is of relevance. "Madagascar copal" originated from the leguminous tree Hymenaea verrucosa, which produced and produces resin abundantly. In the last 20 years, interest has focused on the scientific study of its biological inclusions, mainly arthropods, described in dozens of publications. The age and origin of the deposits of "Madagascar copal" have not yet been resolved. Our objectives are to determine its age and geographical origin, and thus increase its scientific value as a source of biological/palaeobiological information. Although Hymenaea was established in Madagascar during the Miocene, we did not find geological deposits of copal or amber in the island. It is plausible that the evolution of those deposits was negatively conditioned by the type of soil, by the climate, and by the development of soil/litter microorganisms, which inhibit preservation of the resin pieces in the litter and subsoil over 300 years. Our results indicate that "Madagascar copal" is a Recent resin, up to a few hundred years old, that originated from Hymenaea trees growing in the lowland coastal forests, one of the most endangered ecosystems in the world. The included and preserved biota is representative of that ecosystem today and during historical times. Inclusions in this Recent resin do not have the palaeontological significance that has been mistakenly attributed to them, but they do have relevant implications for studies regarding Anthropocene biodiversity loss in this hottest hotspot.

A new fossil genus of the family Hybotidae is described, based on male and female specimens. The new genus is monotypic: Syneproctus caridadi gen. et sp. nov. It belongs to the subfamily Hybotinae and shares some characters with the extant genera Syneches Walker, 1852, Stenoproctus Loew, 1858 and Chillcottomyia Saigusa, 1986; however, the differences, principally in the wing venation (shortened cua cell, horizontal m-cu crossvein) and sclerotized mouthparts, support the description of a new genus. This is the first description of a new taxon of the subfamily Hybotinae from specimens preserved in Dominican amber.

International audience; The paleontological interest for fossil plant resins (amber and copal) has greatly increased in thelast decades, as field studies have resulted in the discovery of various new deposits worldwide. Yet, amberrichdeposits remain particularly scarce on continents from former Gondwana. Here we review the knownoccurrences of copal and amber from Africa, with a state-of-the-art regarding the age dating, the putativeplant sources, the fossil content, as well as the paleoenvironmental settings. The first African ambers knownto yield arthropods and other organismal inclusions, found recently from the early Cretaceous of Congo andthe Miocene of Ethiopia, are briefly overviewed.; L’intérêt paléontologique pour les résines végétales fossiles (ambre et copal) s’estfortement accru ces dernières décennies, les études de terrain ayant permis la découverte de divers nouveauxgisements à travers le monde. Les gisements riches en ambre demeurent néanmoins particulièrement raressur les continents autrefois gondwaniens. Nous révisons ici les occurrences connues de copal et d’ambre enAfrique, avec un bilan concernant la datation, les sources botaniques probables, le contenu fossile, ainsi quele contexte paléoenvironnemental. Les premiers ambres africains livrant des arthropodes et autres inclusionsorganiques fossiles, découverts récemment dans le Crétacé inférieur du Congo et le Miocène d’Ethiopie,sont brièvement présentés.

The monospecific family Mysteriomorphidae was recently described based on two fossil specimens from the Late Cretaceous Kachin amber of northern Myanmar. The family was placed in Elateriformia incertae sedis without a clear list of characters that define it either in Elateroidea or in Byrrhoidea. We report here four additional adult specimens of the same lineage, one of which was described using a successful reconstruction from a CT-scan analysis to better observe some characters. The new specimens enabled us to considerably improve the diagnosis of Mysteriomorphidae. The family is definitively placed in Elateroidea, and we hypothesize its close relationship with Elateridae. Similarly, there are other fossil families of beetles that are exclusively described from Cretaceous ambers. These lineages may have been evolutionarily replaced by the ecological revolution launched by angiosperms that introduced new co-associations with taxa. These data indicate a macroevolutionary pattern of replacement that could be extended to other insect groups.

The early fossilization steps of natural resins and associated terminology are a subject of constant debate. Copal and resin are archives of palaeontological and historical information, and their study is critical to the discovery of new and/or recently extinct species and to trace changes in forests during the Holocene. For such studies, a clear, suitable definition for copal is vital and is herein established. We propose an age range for copal (2.58 Ma—1760 AD), including Pleistocene and Holocene copals, and the novel term "Defaunation resin", defined as resin produced after the commencement of the Industrial Revolution. Defaunation resin is differentiated from Holocene copal as it was produced during a period of intense human transformative activities. Additionally, the “Latest Amber Bioinclusions Gap” (LABG) since the late Miocene to the end of the Pleistocene is hereby newly defined, and is characterized by its virtual absence of bioinclusions and the consequent lack of palaeontological information, which in part explains the historical differentiation between amber and copal. Crucial time intervals in the study of resin production, and of the biodiversity that could be contained, are now clarified, providing a framework for and focusing future research on bioinclusions preserved in copal and resin.

Amber is an organic multicompound derivative from the polymerization of resin of diverse higher plants. Compared with other modes of fossil preservation, amber records the anatomy of and ecological interactions between ancient soft-bodied organisms with exceptional fidelity. However, it is currently suggested that ambers do not accurately record the composition of arthropod forest paleocommunities, due to crucial taphonomic biases. We evaluated the effects of taphonomic processes on arthropod entrapment by resin from the plant Hymenaea, one of the most important resin-producing trees and a producer of tropical Cenozoic ambers and Anthropocene (or subfossil) resins. We statistically compared natural entrapment by Hymenaea verrucosa tree resin with the ensemble of arthropods trapped by standardized entomological traps around the same tree species. Our results demonstrate that assemblages in resin are more similar to those from sticky traps than from malaise traps, providing an accurate representation of the arthropod fauna living in or near the resiniferous tree, but not of entire arthropod forest communities. Particularly, arthropod groups such as Lepidoptera, Collembola, and some Diptera are underrepresented in resins. However, resin assemblages differed slightly from sticky traps, perhaps because chemical compounds in the resins attract or repel specific insect groups. Ground-dwelling or flying arthropods that use the tree-trunk habitat for feeding or reproduction are also well represented in the resin assemblages, implying that fossil inclusions in amber can reveal fundamental information about biology of the past. These biases have implications for the paleoecological interpretation of the fossil record, principally of Cenozoic amber with angiosperm origin.