Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Type: Article
Published: 2019-03-26
Page range: 270–276
Abstract views: 55
PDF downloaded: 2

Unexpected diversity of whitefly predators in Eocene Baltic amber—new fossil Serangium species (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)

Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Wilcza 64, 00-679, Warsaw, Poland.
Coleoptera amber forest climate Coccinelloidea palaeobiology Serangiini Aleyrodidae lady beetle ladybird beetles

Abstract

Serangium is a tropical genus of minute ladybird beetles, which has been recently discovered in Baltic amber. Discovery of the third species, S. kalandyki sp. nov., demonstrates the surprising diversity of this group in the palaeoenvironment of Eocene ‘amber forests’. The new species, together with two previously described, form a well defined morphological group which suggests they all belong to a single lineage. An updated key to the fossil species of Serangium is presented. The diversity of the genus and its ecological affinities are discussed.

 

References

  1. Alekseev, V.I. & Alekseev, P.I. (2016) New approaches for reconstruction of the ecosystem of an Eocene amber forest. Biology Bulletin, 43, 75–86.

    https://doi.org/10.1134/S1062359016010027

    Bink-Moenen, R.M. & Mound, L.A. (1990) Whiteflies: Diversity, Biosystematics and evolutionary patterns. In: Gerling, D. (Ed.), Whiteflies: Their Bionomics, Pest Status and Management. Intercept Press, Andover, Hants, pp. 1–12.

    Blackburn, T. (1889) Further notes on Australian Coleoptera, with descriptions of new species. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, 11, 175–214.

    Bogri, A., Solodovnikov, A. & Żyła, D. (2018) Baltic amber impact on historical biogeography and palaeoclimate research: oriental rove beetle Dysanabatium found in the Eocene of Europe (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Paederinae). Papers in Palaeontology, 4, 433–452.

    https://doi.org/10.1002/spp2.1113

    Casey, T.L. (1899) A revision of the American Coccinellidae. Journal of the New York Entomological Society, 7, 71–169.

    Chapin, E.A. (1940) New genera and species of lady–beetles related to Serangium Blackburn (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae). Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences, 30, 263–272.

    Drohojowska, J. & Szwedo, J. (2011) New Aleyrodidae (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha: Aleyrodomorpha) from Eocene Baltic amber. Polish Journal of Entomology, 80, 659–677.

    https://doi.org/10.2478/v10200-011-0051-y

    Emery, C. (1886) Über Phylogenie und Systematik der Insekten. Biologisches Zentralblatt, 5, 648–656.

    Escalona, H.E. & Ślipiński, A. (2012) Generic revision and phylogeny of Microweiseinae (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae). Systematic Entomology, 37, 125–171.

    https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3113.2011.00601.x

    Gordon, R.D. (1970) A review of the genus Delphastus Casey (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington, 72, 356–369.

    Gordon, R.D. (1994) South American Coccinellidae (Coleoptera) Part III: Taxonomic revision of the western hemisphere genus Delphastus Casey. Frustula Entomologica, n.s., 17, 71–133.

    Grimaldi, D.A. & Ross, A.J. (2017) Extraordinary Lagerstätten in amber, with particular reference to the Cretaceous of Burma. In: Fraser, N.C. & Sues, H.-D. (Eds.), Terrestrial Conservation Lagerstätten. Windows into the Evolution of Life on Land. Dunedin Academic Press, Edinburgh, pp. 287–342.

    Hernando, C., Szawaryn, K. & Ribera, I. (2018) A new species of Platypelochares from Baltic amber (Coleoptera: Limnichidae). Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Prague, 58, 17–20.

    https://doi.org/10.2478/aemnp-2018-0003

    Kirejtshuk, A.G. & Nel, A. (2012) The oldest representatives of the family Coccinellidae (Coleoptera: Polyphaga) from the Lowermost Eocene Oise amber (France). Zoosystematica Rossica, 21, 131–144.

    Larsson, S.G. (1978) Baltic amber—a palaeobiological study. Entomonograph, 1, 1–192.

    Latreille, P.A. (1807) Genera Crustaceorum et Insectorum Secundum Ordinem Naturalem in Familias Disposita, Iconibus Exemplisque Plurimis Explicata. Tomus Tertius. A. Koenig, Paris, 258 pp.

    Lawrence, J.F., Ślipiński, A., Seago, A., Thayer, M., Newton, A. & Marvaldi, A. (2011) Phylogeny of the Coleoptera based on adult and larval morphology. Annales Zoologici, 61, 1–217.

    https://doi.org/10.3161/000345411X576725

    Leng, C.W. (1920) Catalogue of the Coleoptera of America, North of Mexico. J. D. Sherman, Jr, New York, Mount Vernon, 470 pp.

    https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.8777

    Linnaeus, C. (1758) Systema Naturae Per Regna Tria Maturae, Secundum Classes, Ordines, Genera, Species Cum Characteribus, Differentiis, Synonymis, Locis. Editio Decima, Reformata. Tomus I. Laurentii Salvii, Holmiae. 824 pp.

    Miyatake, M. (1961) A new genus of the Coccinellidae from Japan and The Ryukyu Islands (Coleoptera). Memoirs of the College of Agriculture, Ehime University, 6, 37–133.

    Poorani, J. (2002) An annotated checklist of the Coccinellidae (Coleoptera) (excluding Epilachninae) of the Indian Subregion. Oriental Insects, 36, 307–383.

    https://doi.org/10.1080/00305316.2002.10417335

    Pope, R.D. (1962) A review of the Pharini (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae). The Annals and Magazine of Natural History, 4, 627–640.

    https://doi.org/10.1080/00222936108651187

    Sadowski, E.-M., Schmidt, A.R., Seyfullah, J. & Kunzmann, L. (2017) Conifers of the 'Baltic Amber Forest' and their Palaeoecological Significance. Stapfia, 106, 1–73.

    Ślipiński, A. & Burckhardt, D. (2006) Revision of the Australian Coccinellidae (Coleoptera). Part 5. Tribe Serangiini. Annales Zoologici, 56, 37–58.

    Ślipiński, A. (2007) Australian Ladybird Beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae): Their Biology and Classification. Department of the Environment and Water Resources, Canberra, 286 pp.

    Stebner, F. (2018) Age of Baltic amber. In: Szadziewski, R., Pytlos, R. & Szwedo, J. (Eds.), Baltic amber — treasure of the Bay of Gdańsk. Związek miast i gmin morskich, Gdańsk, pp. 23–26.

    Szadziewski, R., Szwedo, J. & Sontag, E. (2018) Fauna of the amber forest. In: Szadziewski, R., Pytlos, R. & Szwedo, J. (Eds.), Baltic amber – treasure of the Bay of Gdańsk. Związek miast i gmin morskich, Gdańsk, pp. 39–71.

    Szawaryn, K. & Szwedo, J. (2018) Have ladybird beetles and whiteflies co-existed for at least 40 Mya? Paläontologische Zeitschrift, 92 (4), 593–603.

    https://doi.org/10.1007/s12542-018-0409-5

    Szwedo, J. & Drohojowska, J. (2016) A swarm of whiteflies—the first record of gregarious behaviour from Eocene Baltic amber. The Science of Nature, 103, 35. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-016-1359-y.

    Szwedo, J. & Sontag, E. (2009) The traps of the ‘amber trap’. How inclusions could trap scientists with enigmas. Denisia, 26, 155–169.

    Szwedo, J. & Stroiński, A. (2017) Who’s that girl? The singular Tropiduchidae planthopper from the Eocene Baltic amber (Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha). Palaeontologia Electronica, 20, 1–20.

    https://doi.org/10.26879/784

    Wang, X.-M., Ren, S.-X. & Chen, X.-S. (2011) A review of the genus Serangium Blackburn (Coleoptera, Coccinellidae) from China. ZooKeys, 134, 33–63.

    https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.134.1715

    Wang, X., Ślipiński, A. & Ren, S. (2013) The genus Microserangium Miyatake (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) from China. ZooKeys, 359, 13–33.

    https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.359.6057

    Wappler, T. (2005) The age of Baltic amber: Could Eckfeld resolve this problem? In: Brothers, D. & Mostovski, M. (Eds.), Fossils X3, 3rd International Congress of Palaeoentomology with 2nd International Meeting on Palaeoarthropodology and 2nd World Congress on Amber and its Inclusions. Programme and Abstracts, 7th to 11th Feb 2005, Pretoria South Africa. University of Kwazulu–Natal, South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria, pp. 53.

    Wolfe, A.P., McKellar, R.C., Tappert, R., Sodhi, R.N.S. & Muehlenbachs, K. (2016) Bitterfeld amber is not Baltic amber: Three geochemical tests and further constraints on the botanical affinities of succinite. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 225, 21–32.

    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.revpalbo.2015.11.002