A new species of fossil Corethrella (Diptera, Corethrellidae) from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber

Baranov, Viktor; Kvifte, Gunnar M.; Müller, Patrick und Bernal, Ximena E. (2019): A new species of fossil Corethrella (Diptera, Corethrellidae) from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber. In: Cretaceous Research, Bd. 101: S. 84-91

Abstract

Frog-biting midges (Diptera: Corethrellidae) are hematophagous flies in which females feed on anuran blood using the mating calls produced by calling male frogs. This family is of large ecological, evolutionary and ethological interest, but its geological history is poorly known. We describe a new species of frog-biting midge (Diptera, Corethrellidae), Corethrella patula sp. nov., from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber (ca. 99 Ma). This new species is distinct from Corethrella andersoni, known from the same deposit, differing in having more slender mid femora and a triangular bifid tarsal segment 5 without scales. These two species, however, share an apparent synapomorphy in the wing;R-2 vein diverting from R2+3 at 75 degrees angle in relation to R-3. The well-preserved male genitalia of the new species suggest C. patula and C. andersoni are a distinct, early lineage not easily placeable within either of the described subgenera of Corethrella. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

• Dokumententyp: Zeitschriftenartikel
• Fakultät: Biologie > Department Biologie II
• Themengebiete: 500 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik > 570 Biowissenschaften; Biologie
• ISSN: 0195-6671
• Sprache: Englisch