首页|New barklice (Psocodea, Trogiomorpha) from Lower Cretaceous Spanish amber

New barklice (Psocodea, Trogiomorpha) from Lower Cretaceous Spanish amber

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Barklice are insects belonging to the order Psocodea. They are herbivorous or detritivorous, and inhabit a wide range of environments. Their oldest fossil record dates back to the late Carboniferous, but it was not until the Cretaceous that they became much more diverse. However, their fossil record could be affected by taphonomic processes due to their tiny size and soft bodies. Here, we present new psocid specimens from five amber-bearing outcrops in Spain that are Albian in age. One of the specimens, a well-preserved psocid nymph assigned to dagger Archaeatropidae, lacks evidence of debris-carrying behaviour. Some of the specimens belong to the previously known species Archaeatropos alavensis Baz & Ortuno and Preempheria antiqua Baz & Ortuno (Trogiomorpha: Atropetae), providing new anatomical and biogeographical information. Furthermore, we describe a new species, Libanoglaris hespericus sp. nov. (dagger Archaeatropidae). The diagnosis for the family dagger Archaeatropidae is emended. The abundance of psocids in Cretaceous amber and their virtual absence in compression outcrops could be due to taphonomic bias. Considerations on the phylogenetic placement of trogiomorphan families and the relationships between dagger Archaeatropidae and dagger Empheriidae are included. Today, the least diverse psocid suborder is Trogiomorpha, but this suborder comprises the majority of the Cretaceous psocodean species described to date, possibly due to palaeobiological or evolutionary constraints. Trogiomorphans could have been relegated to marginal habitats by niche competition with psocomorphans. Debris-carrying behaviour in response to predatory pressure might not have been widely distributed, geographically or phylogenetically, in the Cretaceous psocid nymphs.

PsocodeaTrogiomorphabarkliceamberCretaceousMIDCRETACEOUS BURMESE AMBERINSECTA PSOCODEAPSOCOPTERAGENUSPRIONOGLARIDIDAEEMPHERIIDAEPSOCOMORPHAPSOCIDSALAVAARCHAEATROPIDAE

Alvarez-Parra, Sergio、Penalver, Enrique、Nel, Andre、Delclos, Xavier

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Univ Barcelona

CSIC

Univ Antilles

2022

Papers in Palaeontology

Papers in Palaeontology

SCI
ISSN:2056-2799
年,卷(期):2022.8(3)
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