Life habits and evolutionary biology of new two-winged long-proboscid scorpionflies from mid-Cretaceous Myanmar amber

Long-proboscid scorpionflies are enigmatic, mid-Mesozoic insects associated with gymnosperm pollination. One major lineage, Aneuretopsychina, consists of four families plus two haustellate clades, Diptera and Siphonaptera. One clade, Pseudopolycentropodidae, from mid-Cretaceous Myanmar amber, contai...

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Published inNature communications Vol. 10; no. 1; p. 1235
Main Authors Lin, Xiaodan, Labandeira, Conrad C, Shih, Chungkun, Hotton, Carol L, Ren, Dong
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England Nature Publishing Group 15.03.2019
Nature Publishing Group UK
Nature Portfolio
Subjects
Amber
Animals
Biological Evolution
Cretaceous
Cycadopsida
Female
Fluidization
Fluidizing
Food
Fossils - anatomy & histology
Genitalia
Herbivory - physiology
Hypopharynx
Inflow
Insecta - anatomy & histology
Insecta - physiology
Insects
Male
Mecoptera
Mesozoic
Mouthparts
Myanmar
Organs
Phylogeny
Plant reproduction
Pollen
Pollination
Sex Characteristics
Swarms
Myanmar
Myanmar (Burma)
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Summary:Long-proboscid scorpionflies are enigmatic, mid-Mesozoic insects associated with gymnosperm pollination. One major lineage, Aneuretopsychina, consists of four families plus two haustellate clades, Diptera and Siphonaptera. One clade, Pseudopolycentropodidae, from mid-Cretaceous Myanmar amber, contains Parapolycentropus. Here, we newly establish Dualula, assigned to Dualulidae, constituting the fifth lineage. Parapolycentropus and Dualula lineages are small, two-winged, with unique siphonate mouthparts for imbibing pollination drops. A cibarial pump provides siphonal food inflow; in Dualula, the siphon base surrounds a hypopharynx housing a small, valved pump constricted to a narrow salivary duct supplying outgoing enzymes for food fluidization. Indirect evidence links long-proboscid mouthpart structure with contemporaneous tubulate ovulate organs. Direct evidence of gymnospermous Cycadopites pollen is associated with one Parapolycentropus specimen. Parapolycentropus and Dualula exhibit hind-wing reduction that would precede haltere formation, likely caused by Ultrabithorax. Distinctive, male Aneuretopsychina genitalia are evident from specimens in copulo, supplemented by mixed-sex individuals of likely male mating swarms.
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ISSN:2041-1723
2041-1723
DOI:10.1038/s41467-019-09236-4