A Probable Pollination Mode Before Angiosperms: Eurasian, Long-Proboscid Scorpionflies

2009/11/06 by Dong Ren, Conrad C. Labandeira, Jorge A. Santiago‐Blay +6 · 12 citations
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · #Plant and animal studies #Plant Diversity and Evolution #Fern and Epiphyte Biology

paper · doi:10.1126/science.1178338

openalex publication_date 2009/11/06 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23

Abstract

The head and mouthpart structures of 11 species of Eurasian scorpionflies represent three extinct and closely related families during a 62-million-year interval from the late Middle Jurassic to the late Early Cretaceous. These taxa had elongate, siphonate (tubular) proboscides and fed on ovular secretions of extinct gymnosperms. Five potential ovulate host-plant taxa co-occur with these insects: a seed fern, conifer, ginkgoopsid, pentoxylalean, and gnetalean. The presence of scorpionfly taxa suggests that siphonate proboscides fed on gymnosperm pollination drops and likely engaged in pollination mutualisms with gymnosperms during the mid-Mesozoic, long before the similar and independent coevolution of nectar-feeding flies, moths, and beetles on angiosperms. All three scorpionfly families became extinct during the later Early Cretaceous, coincident with global gymnosperm-to-angiosperm turnover.

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• Are Insects Heading Toward Their First Mass Extinction? Distinguishing Turnover From Crises in Their Fossil Record
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• Cheirolepidiaceae [wikipedia]
• Gnetum [wikipedia]
• Gymnosperm [wikipedia]