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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.

A fossil fauna of Chironomidae in early Eocene Cambay amber from India is reported for the first time. The fossil assemblage consists of 192 specimens from five subfamilies. Chironomidae from Cambay amber represent a fauna whose composition in the fossil record is most similar to Dominican amber, with the exception of the presence of Podonominae in Cambay amber. Chironomidae genera recorded from Cambay amber indicate the presence of freshwater habitats and standing water bodies as well as springs. Incorporation of other dipteran groups from Cambay amber adds evidence of diverse aquatic and semi-aquatic habitats in the Cambay amber forest and implies entrapment of the fossils from a wide range of different locally separated areas.

We present the first specific record of a chironomid of the tribe Tanytarsini from early Eocene Cambay amber, India (52–53 Ma). The oldest known extinct tanytarsine genus, Gujaratomyia Giłka & Zakrzewska, gen. nov., is described on the basis of adult males of G. miripes Giłka & Zakrzewska, sp. nov. The species displays an unusual leg structure with unique leg ratios and tibial armature. The combination of the head and genital apparatus characters supports the hypothesis that Gujaratomyia and Cladotanytarsus are members of a common group within the subtribe Tanytarsina.

The first representative of Tipulomorpha in Early Eocene Cambay amber from India is described. The new find belongs to the genus Dicranomyia in the family Limoniidae. This genus has a worldwide distribution today and is relatively common in Eocene Baltic amber. A new species belonging to the subgenus Dicranomyia is described as Dicranomyia (Dicranomyia) indica sp. nov.

Gilka, W., Zakrzewska, M., Baranov, V., Wang, B. & Stebner, F., May 2016. The first fossil record of Nandeva Wiedenbrug, Reiss & Fittkau (Diptera: Chironomidae) in early Eocene Fushun amber from China. Alcheringa 40, xxx–xxx. ISSN 0311-5518The first fossil representative of the extant chironomid genus Nandeva Wiedenbrug, Reiss & Fittkau, 1998 is described based on a specimen found in early Eocene (50–53 Ma) Fushun amber from China. The adult male of Nandeva pudens sp. nov. has the long RM vein as a continuation of M and R4+5, the bare squama, the strongly reduced anal area of the wing and hypopygial characters typical of extant species of the genus. Following the systematic concept based on adult male morphology and characters examinable in fossil specimens, we present N. pudens as a possible member of the Tanytarsini, arguing that Nandeva is part of this tribe or a possible sister group to the tribe. This is the first record of Nandeva from the Palaearctic region.Wojciech Gilka [wojciech.gilka@biol.ug.ed...

Amber is nearly ubiquitous in lignites from Otago and Southland and cornmon throughout New Zealand; however, no amber inclusions have been reported previously. We studied amber from 22 Cretaceous to Miocene sites in southem New Zealand, recovering inclusions at three localities: Cosy Dell (late Oligocene), Roxburgh (early Miocene), and Hyde (?early Miocene). Preparation of New Zealand amber to expose inclusions for study under incident and transmitted light is challenging and time-consuming, with most samples brittle and opaque. Thus, we stabilize and clear the amber lumps using epoxy preparation under vacuum before grinding and imaging under light microscopy. To date we have recovered 63 arthropods, as weIl as plant remains, fungi, and nematodes. Arachnids include diverse mites (Mesostigmata, Oribatida, Astigmata, and Prostigmata), a variety of spiders and web remains with prey, and a pseudoscorpion. Sorne Collembola were identified as belonging to the family Entomobryidae (Entomobryomorpha). Insects include members of the families Dermestidae (Coleoptera), Mymaridae and Scelionidae (Hymenoptera), Veliidae (Heteroptera), Ceratopogonidae (Forcipomyia) and Mycetophilidae (Diptera), as well as Psocoptera, and Lepidoptera. The most abundant fungi in New Zealand amber are hyphomycetes similar to the genus Casparyotorula from European Palaeogene ambers and we discovered similar fungi growing on resin of the extant Agathis australis, the iconic New Zealand Kauri. Furthermore, specimens of the genus Metacapnodium (Capnodiales) represent the first Southem Hemisphere fossil sooty moulds; saprophytic ascomycetes with brown hyphae, often forming extensive subicula on living plant surfaces. These fungi are ubiquitous and diverse in New Zealand today. Many of these new amber fossils represent groups with an otherwise poor fossil record for the entire Southem Hemisphere. The systematic and ecological diversity of the inclusions highlights the potential of New Zealand amber for reconstructing past terres trial ecosystems of Zealandia, one of the biogeographically crucial former Gondwanan landmasses.

Scientific reports 7, 41899 (2017). doi:10.1038/srep41899, The life-like fidelity of organisms captured in amber is unique among all kinds of fossilization and represents an invaluable source for different fields of palaeontological and biological research. One of the most challenging aspects in amber research is the study of traits related to behaviour. Here, indirect evidence for pheromone-mediated mating behaviour is recorded from a biting midge (Ceratopogonidae) in 54 million-year-old Indian amber. Camptopterohelea odora n. sp. exhibits a complex, pocket shaped structure on the wings, which resembles the wing folds of certain moth flies (Diptera: Psychodidae) and scent organs that are only known from butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera) so far. Our studies suggests that pheromone releasing structures on the wings have evolved independently in biting midges and might be much more widespread in fossil as well as modern insects than known so far., Published by Nature Publishing Group, London

The male of Pintomyia (Pifanomyia) bolontikui sp. nov., from the Miocene Mexican amber deposits of Simojovel, Chiapas, is described. This is the second fossil phlebotomine sand fly described from Mexico. Morphological differences between fossil and extant species of American phlebotomine sand flies are discussed.

India’s unique and highly diverse biota combined with its unique geodynamical history has generated significant interest in the patterns and processes that have shaped the current distribution of India’s flora and fauna and their biogeographical relationships. Fifty four million year old Cambay amber from northwestern India provides the opportunity to address questions relating to endemism and biogeographic history by studying fossil insects. Within the present study seven extant and three fossil genera of biting midges are recorded from Cambay amber and five new species are described: Eohelea indica Stebner & Szadziewski n. sp., Gedanohelea gerdesorum Stebner & Szadziewski n. sp., Meunierohelea cambayana Stebner & Szadziewski n. sp., Meunierohelea borkenti Stebner & Szadziewski n. sp., and Meunierohelea orientalis Stebner & Szadziewski n. sp. Fossils of species in the genera Leptoconops Skuse, 1889, Forcipomyia Meigen, 1818, Brachypogon Kieffer, 1899, Stilobezzia Kieffer, 1911, Serromyia Meigen, 1818, and Mantohelea Szadziewski, 1988 are recorded without formal description. Furthermore, one fossil belonging to the genus Camptopterohelea Wirth & Hubert, 1960 is included in the present study. Our study reveals faunal links among Ceratopogonidae from Cambay amber and contemporaneous amber from Fushun, China, Eocene Baltic amber from Europe, as well as the modern Australasian and the Oriental regions. These findings imply that faunal exchange between Europe, Asia and India took place before the formation of Cambay amber in the early Eocene.

The life-like fidelity of organisms captured in amber is unique among all kinds of fossilization and represents an invaluable source for different fields of palaeontological and biological research. One of the most challenging aspects in amber research is the study of traits related to behaviour. Here, indirect evidence for pheromone-mediated mating behaviour is recorded from a biting midge (Ceratopogonidae) in 54 million-year-old Indian amber. Camptopterohelea odora n. sp. exhibits a complex, pocket shaped structure on the wings, which resembles the wing folds of certain moth flies (Diptera: Psychodidae) and scent organs that are only known from butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera) so far. Our studies suggests that pheromone releasing structures on the wings have evolved independently in biting midges and might be much more widespread in fossil as well as modern insects than known so far.

For nearly 100 million years, the India subcontinent drifted from Gondwana until its collision with Asia some 50 Ma, during which time the landmass presumably evolved a highly endemic biota. Recent excavations of rich outcrops of 50–52-million-year-old amber with diverse inclusions from the Cambay Shale of Gujarat, western India address this issue. Cambay amber occurs in lignitic and muddy sediments concentrated by near-shore chenier systems; its chemistry and the anatomy of associated fossil wood indicates a definitive source of Dipterocarpaceae. The amber is very partially polymerized and readily dissolves in organic solvents, thus allowing extraction of whole insects whose cuticle retains microscopic fidelity. Fourteen orders and more than 55 families and 100 species of arthropod inclusions have been discovered thus far, which have affinities to taxa from the Eocene of northern Europe, to the Recent of Australasia, and the Miocene to Recent of tropical America. Thus, India just prior to or immediately following contact shows little biological insularity. A significant diversity of eusocial insects are fossilized, including corbiculate bees, rhinotermitid termites, and modern subfamilies of ants (Formicidae), groups that apparently radiated during the contemporaneous Early Eocene Climatic Optimum or just prior to it during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum. Cambay amber preserves a uniquely diverse and early biota of a modern-type of broad-leaf tropical forest, revealing 50 Ma of stasis and change in biological communities of the dipterocarp primary forests that dominate southeastern Asia today.

In a recent paper a new subfamily of Psychodidae was inadequately named Protopsychodinae. This nomenclatural act cannot be considered as a valid name under ICZN regulations because the subfamily name is not based on the type genusDatziaStebner et al., 2015, and furthermore the fossil genusProtopsychodaAzar et al., 1999 was originally described under the subfamily Psychodinae. Therefore, the new family-group name Datziinae is herein proposed.

Summary Paleogene arthropod biotas have proved important for tracing the faunal turnover and intercontinental faunal interchange driven by climatic warming and geodynamic events [1–5]. Despite the large number of Paleogene fossil arthropods in Europe and North America [5–8], little is known about the typical Asian (Laurasia-originated) arthropod biota. Here, we report a unique amber biota (50–53 million years ago) from the Lower Eocene of Fushun in northeastern China, which fills a large biogeographic gap in Eurasia. Fushun amber is derived from cupressaceous trees, as determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, infrared spectroscopy, and paleobotanical observations. Twenty-two orders and more than 80 families of arthropods have been reported so far, making it among the most diverse amber biotas. Our results reveal that an apparent radiation of ecological keystone insects, including eusocial, phytophagous, and parasitoid lineages, occurred at least during the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum. Some insect taxa have close phylogenetic affinities to those from coeval European ambers, showing a biotic interchange between the eastern and western margins of the Eurasian landmass during the Early Paleogene.