2025/12/31 by Mathieu Boderau, Ancheng Peng, Christel Hoffeins +2 · 1 voice
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · #Coleoptera Taxonomy and Distribution #Fossil Insects in Amber #Hemiptera Insect Studies
paper · pdf · doi:10.11646/zootaxa.5739.1.12
openalex created_date 2025/12/31 · openalex publication_date 2025/12/31 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/22
The fossil record of true aquatic bugs (Heteroptera: Nepomorpha) in amber outcrops is scarce, hampering our knowledge of their diversification. Recently, numerous discoveries have been made in mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber, whereas there is only one taxon described in Cenozoic ambers (Popov & Heiss, 2014), despite the abundance of such specimens in lacustrine deposits. We report the first reliable fossil occurrence of Micronectidae, which is tentatively attributed to the extant genus Micronecta. The taxonomic affinities of the fossil are discussed, as well as the scarcity of Nepomorpha in Cenozoic amber deposits.