A new genus of Apsilocephalidae (Diptera) in Mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber
Abstract
A new genus and species of apsilocephalid flies, Cascomixticus tubuliferous gen. et sp. nov. (Diptera: Asiloidea: Apsilocephalidae) is described from Burmese amber. Assignment to the Apsilocephalidae is based on the wing venation that is very similar to extant members of the family. The present fossil differs from known genera of this family by a long labellum bearing tactochemical papillae, a long tubular hypopharynx and a pointed labrum as well as the structure of the scape and pedicel. The long, tubular hypopharynx may have been used to obtain nectar from angiosperm flowers, however the function of the sharp-tipped labrum is unknown.
Section
References
- Arillo, A., Peñalver, E., Pérez De La Fuente, R., Delclós, X., Criscione, J., Barden, P.M., Riccio, M.L. & Grimaldi, D. (2015). Long-proboscid brachyceran flies in Cretaceous amber (Diptera: Stratiomyomorpha: Zhangsolvidae). Systematic Entomology, 40, 242–267. https://doi.org/10.1111/syen.12106
- Brown, B.V., Borkent, A., Cumming, J.M., Wood, D.M., Woodley, N.E. & Zumbado, M.A. (2009). Manual of Central American Diptera (Vol. 1). Ottawa, Canada: NRC Research Press.
- Cockerell, T.D.A. (1927). Fossil insects from the Miocene of Colorado. The Annals and Magazine of Natural History, 9, 161–166.
- Cole, F.R. (1969). The Flies of Western North America. Berkeley: University of California Press.
- Cruickshank, D. & Ko, K. (2003). Geology of an amber locality in the Hukawng Valley, Northern Myanmar. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 21, 441–455. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1367-9120(02)00044-5
- Cumming, J.M. & Sinclair, B.J. (2009). Empididae (dance flies, balloon flies, predaceous flies). In B.V. Brown, A. Borkent, J.M. Cumming, D.M. Wood, N.E. Woodley & M.A. Zumbado (Eds.), Manual of Central American Diptera (Vol. 1) (pp. 653–670). Ottawa: Canada NCR Research Press.
- Gaimari, S.D. & Mostovski, M.B. (2000). Burmapsilocephala cockerelli, a new genus and species of Asiloidea (Diptera) from Burmese amber. Bulletin of the Natural History Museum (London) Geology Series, 56, 41–44.
- Grimaldi, D.A., Arillo, A., Cumming, J.M. & Hauser, M. (2011). Brachyceran Diptera (Insecta) in Cretaceous ambers. Part IV, significant new orthorrhaphous taxa. Zookeys, 148, 293–332. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.148.1809
- Hauser, M. & Irwin, M.E. (2005). Fossil Therevidae (Insecta:Diptera) from Florissant, Colorado (Upper Eocene). Journal of Systematic Palaeontology, 3, 393–403. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1477201905001690
- Hauser, M., Winterton, S.L., Kirk-Spriggs, A.H. & Holston, K.C. (2017). Therevidae (Stiletto Flies). In Kirk- A.H. Spriggs & B.J. Sinclair (Eds.), Manual of Afrotropical Diptera (Vol. 2) (pp. 1183–1208). Nematocerous Diptera and Lower Brachycera. Suricata 5. Pretoria, South Africa: South African National Biodiversity Institute.
- Irwin, M.E. & Lyneborg, L. (1981). Therevidae. In McAlpine, J.F., Peterson, B.V., Shewell, G.E., Teskey, H.J., Vockeroth, J.R. & Wood, D.M. (Eds.), Manual of Nearctic Diptera (Vol. 1) (pp. 513–521). Monograph no. 27. Quebec: Canada: Canadian Government Publishing Centre, Hull.
- Nagatomi, A., Saigusa, T., Nagatomi, H. & Lyneborg, L. (1991). Apsilocephalidae, a new family of the orthorrhaphous Brachycera (Insecta, Diptera). Zoological Science, 8, 579–591.
- Poinar, Jr., G.O., Lambert, J.B. & Wu, Y. (2007). Araucarian source of fossiliferous Burmese amber: spectroscopic and anatomical evidence. Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas, 1, 449–455.
- Shi, G., Grimaldi, D.A., Harlow, G.E., Wang, J., Wang, J., Yang, M., Lei, W., Li, Q., & Li, X. (2012). Age constraint on Burmese amber based on U-Pb dating of zircons. Cretaceous Research, 37, 155–163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2012.03.014
- Solórzano Kraemer, M.M. & Cumming, J.M. (2019). New genera of brachyceran flies (Diptera: Xylomyidae and Apsilocephalidae sensu auctorum) from mid-Cretaceous Hukawng Valley Burmese amber. Palaeoentomology, 002 (3), 251–261. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.1180.1.1
- Winterton, S.L., Yang, L., Wiegmann, B.M. & Yeates, D.K. (2001). Phylogenetic revision of Agapophytinae subf. n. (Diptera: Therevidae) based on molecular and morphological evidence. Systematic Entomology, 26, 173–211. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-3113.2001.00142.x
- Winterton, S. & Irwin, M.E. (2008). Kaurimyia gen. nov.: discovery of Apsilocephalidae (Diptera: Therevoid clade) in New Zealand. Zootaxa, 1779, 38–44. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.1779.1.3
- Zhang, Q., Li, X., Xu, B., Zhu, Y., Lu, R., Wang, B. & Yeates, D.K. (2018). Two new genera of Apsilocephalidae from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber. Cretaceous Research, 84, 525–532. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2017.11.026
How to Cite
A new genus of Apsilocephalidae (Diptera) in Mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber. (2021). Biosis: Biological Systems, 2(1), 183-190. https://doi.org/10.37819/biosis.002.01.0091
How to Cite
A new genus of Apsilocephalidae (Diptera) in Mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber. (2021). Biosis: Biological Systems, 2(1), 183-190. https://doi.org/10.37819/biosis.002.01.0091
