Earliest psychomyiid caddisfly fossils, from 100-million-year-old Burmese amber

Posted By News On October 5, 2011 - 3:00pm
Earliest psychomyiid caddisfly fossils, from 100-million-year-old Burmese amber

The examination of insects in Burmese amber by researchers at the University of Cologne, Germany and National Museums Scotland revealed a new genus of caddisfly, which has been named Palerasnitsynus.

The discovery, based on two specimens, constitute the first record of the living family Psychomyiidae in Burmese amber and the oldest known member of this family in the fossil record. Burmese amber is 100 million years old, from the Cretaceous Period, so this discovery adds to our understanding of the caddisfly fauna in that part of the world at that time.

This is Palerasnitsynus ohlhoffi sp. n. holotype (male) in ventral view. Scale bar = 1 mm.

(Photo Credit: Wichard, W; Ross, E; Ross, A)

Source: Pensoft Publishers

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