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The past diversity of Isoptera is relatively poorly documented. Many early-diverging families are only represented today by relicts of their Mesozoic and Cenozoic richness. Therefore, the onset of their evolutionary history and the transitions between families, or even between subsocial and eusocial ways of life, remain difficult to decipher and require additional fossil occurrences. Here, we report the oldest worker/pseudergate trapped in amber and a new Mastotermitidae, both from Hkamti amber. We document a diverse assemblage of species representing early-diverging families from the 'Mid'-Cretaceous of Myanmar, including two new genera and four new species in as many different genera: Anisotermes bourguignoni sp. nov. , Longitermes pulcher gen. et sp. nov. , Magnifitermes krishnai gen. et sp. nov. and Mastotermes myanmarensis sp. nov. These descriptions provide significant morphological evidence to discuss the placement of the genus Anisotermes , confidently place the new genera and confirm the monophyly of Mastotermitidae. The diversity of Cretaceous isopterans, in light of the biology of their extant representatives, is used to discuss palaeoecological implications and highlights the radiation of early diverged Isoptera in the complex Cretaceous ecosystem. The validity of the species Meiatermes cretacicus is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Early Miocene (16–23 Mya) amber of Ethiopia constitutes a new source of fossil ants for Africa, where they are otherwise poorly documented. Here we report a diversified assemblage of six subfamilies and at least 19 genera that are still predominantly alive in the Afrotropics today. In this first account, a particular reference is made to the subfamily Dolichoderinae, with the description of two new species: Technomyrmex svojtkai Perrichot & Engel sp. nov. and Ravavy goldmani Boudinot & Perrichot sp. nov. The first is illustrated and described based on synchrotron-radiation microcomputed tomography, and the second represents the first fossil record for the tribe Bothriomyrmecini and Ravavy , a Malagasy and Afrotropical genus that was hitherto monotypic. The ant composition in Ethiopian amber is congruent with the global pattern emerging across ants and showing a Neogene diversification almost exclusively within extant genera. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With some 3,700 described species, Dryopoidea are a moderately diverse superfamily of beetles whose position within basal Polyphaga has been historically difficult to elucidate. Members of most extant dryopoid families are set apart from the majority of other polyphagans by their association with aquatic habitats, but little is known about the origin of these derived life habits and the phylogeny of the superfamily. Here we describe Mastigocoleidae Tihelka, Jäch, Kundrata & Cai fam. nov. , a new family of Mesozoic dryopoids represented by fossils from the Cretaceous Yixian Formation in northeastern China (undescribed species; ~125 Ma), Crato Formation in northeastern Brazil (Mastigocoleus rhinoceros Tihelka & Cai gen. et sp. nov. ; ~113 Ma), and amber from northern Myanmar (Mastigocoleus resinicola Tihelka & Cai gen. et sp. nov. and Cretaceocoleus saetosus Tihelka, Kundrata & Cai gen. et sp. nov. ; ~99 Ma). Integrating the findings of recent molecular and morphological phylogenetic analyses, we recover Mastigocoleidae as an early-diverging dryopoid clade sister to the families Lutrochidae and Dryopidae, or less likely as a group of putative stem-dryopoids. Mastigocoleidae are most distinctly separated from all other dryopoid families by their whip-like antennae, with 11 antennomeres, reaching to the pronotal base, and with the scape broadest and longest, a short pedicel, and antennomeres II–XI more or less distinctively gradually tapering toward the apex. Mastigocoleidae indicate that the last common ancestor of Dryopoidea was likely terrestrial in the adult stage, and document character acquisitions associated with a specialization for aquatic life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Termites are major decomposers in terrestrial ecosystems and the second most diverse lineage of social insects. The Kalotermitidae form the second-largest termite family and are distributed across tropical and subtropical ecosystems, where they typically live in small colonies confined to single wood items inhabited by individuals with no foraging abilities. How the Kalotermitidae have acquired their global distribution patterns remains unresolved. Similarly, it is unclear whether foraging is ancestral to Kalotermitidae or was secondarily acquired in a few species. These questions can be addressed in a phylogenetic framework. We inferred time-calibrated phylogenetic trees of Kalotermitidae using mitochondrial genomes of ∼120 species, about 27% of kalotermitid diversity, including representatives of 21 of the 23 kalotermitid genera. Our mitochondrial genome phylogenetic trees were corroborated by phylogenies inferred from nuclear ultraconserved elements derived from a subset of 28 species. We found that extant kalotermitids shared a common ancestor 84 Ma (75–93 Ma 95% highest posterior density), indicating that a few disjunctions among early-diverging kalotermitid lineages may predate Gondwana breakup. However, most of the ∼40 disjunctions among biogeographic realms were dated at <50 Ma, indicating that transoceanic dispersals, and more recently human-mediated dispersals, have been the major drivers of the global distribution of Kalotermitidae. Our phylogeny also revealed that the capacity to forage is often found in early-diverging kalotermitid lineages, implying the ancestors of Kalotermitidae were able to forage among multiple wood pieces. Our phylogenetic estimates provide a platform for critical taxonomic revision and future comparative analyses of Kalotermitidae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a phylogeny of Chrysopidae inferred from combining molecular and morphological data. Apochrysinae were recovered as sister to the rest of the family (Nothochrysinae and Chrysopinae). The monogeneric tribe Nothancylini is confirmed as sister to the remaining Chrysopinae. The other four tribes are grouped in two clades: Belonopterygini + Leucochrysini and Ankylopterygini + Chrysopini. The Nineta -group is herein transferred from Chrysopini to Ankylopterygini. Within the diverse and species-rich Chrysopini we recognize five genus-group clades: Chrysopa , Chrysoperla , Chrysopodes , Eremochrysa and Meleoma generic groups. The mapping of characters, such as the parameres, the tignum, the im cell or the tibial spurs, on the phylogeny provides insights into the evolution of these traits in the family. In addition, we propose the following taxonomic changes to the classification of the family: the inclusion of Chrysopidia , Nineta and Tumeochrysa in the tribe Ankylopterygini, and the synonymization of Furcochrysa with Chrysopa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mimicry and secondary defense are staples among predator–prey interactions. Among insects, the stick and leaf insects are masters of camouflage. Nonetheless, a meager understanding of their origin and early mimetic evolution persists. Here, we report the earliest mimetic and defensive strategies of a stick insect from the Middle Jurassic of China, Aclistophasma echinulatum gen. et sp. nov. exquisitely preserving abdominal extensions and femoral spines. The distribution of these characteristics mapped onto the phylogeny of Phasmatodea reveals that abdominal extensions and femoral spines developed multiple times during the evolution of stick insects, and indicates that the origin of abdominal extensions predates other modifications, while tergal extensions predate other expansions of the body, such as those of the sterna and pleura, as well as defensive femoral spines. The new fossil provides clues into early antipredator defensive strategies, allows inferences as to the potential environment and predators, and reveals the mimetic and defensive mechanisms of stick insects from 165 million years ago. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three new weevil ( Coleoptera: Curculionoidea) species from Cretaceous amber of Spain (early Albian) and France (late Albian - early Cenomanian) are described. Nemonychidae are represented by two Spanish specimens from the El Soplao and San Just deposits and described as A rra legalovi gen. et sp. nov., Caridae are described from one specimen in the Spanish deposit of El Soplao and named as A lbicar contriti gen. et sp. nov., and Curculionidae are documented from one specimen embedded in opaque amber from the French deposit of Archingeay and described as A ntiquis opaque gen. et sp. nov. These three new species provide valuable information because they appear to reflect, together with the previously described weevils in Cretaceous ambers, the gradual shift in the dominance of particular curculionoid families across the Cretaceous. Propagation phase-contrast X-ray synchrotron microtomography was utilized to obtain high quality 3 D images for some fossils and, at the same time, permit a concise description of them. © 2014 The Linnean Society of London [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The leafcutting bee Megachile (Eutricharaea) minutissima Radoszkowski is a widely distributed species in the Middle East and a promising pollinator of alfalfa. We provide information on the nest architecture, foraging behavior, phenology, and host plants of a wild population of M. rninutissima studied between March 2010 and September 2012 in Amariah, a typical desert in central Saudi Arabia. Bees nested in preexisting cavities in the sandy, dry, and loose soil, and built between 2 and 14 leaf-lined brood cells per nest. Females built and provisioned 1-2 cells per day, each consisting of a large oval piece from which the cell cup was made and a small semiround piece that was used as cell cap; however, occasionally small oval pieces were also used in the latter. Cells were built from leaves of Ricinus communis L. (Euphorbiaceae), a locally abundant plant. Both sexes were captured from March to October at flowers of 11 species (10 families), indicating some degree of polylecty as well as either bivoltinism or multivoltinism. We also provide comparative taxonomic comments that will assist bee researchers to easily recognize this species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marden's (2013) reanalysis of Knecht et al. (2011) suggesting that specimen SEMC-F97 is the result of the skimming behavior of a neopteran insect and, more importantly, fossil evidence of '... surface skimming as a precursor to the evolution of flight in insects' (Marden 2013) is found to be deficient on three fronts: (1) the principal specimen was never viewed firsthand which led to significant morphological misinterpretations; (2) poorly designed and executed neoichnological experiments led to incredulous results; and (3) the assumption that this specimen is fossil evidence supporting the surface skimming hypothesis of the origin of insect flight despite the fact that since its induction into the literature that hypothesis has been refuted based on significant paleontological, phylogenetic, genetic, and developmental evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Permocoleus wellingtonensis, new genus and new species, is based on an elytron from the Permian Wellington Formation of Oklahoma and is the only Paleozoic record of the order Coleoptera from North America and the oldest record for the New World. Until now, Permian Coleoptera were known only from Europe, Australia, southern Africa, and South America but were conspicuously absent from North America, despite the Wellington Formation being among the most diverse deposits of Permian insects. Permocoleus provides evidence that early beetles were globally distributed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author explains the reason for the importance of descriptive science. According to the author, an organism, object, or substance is not described in a vacuum, but rather in comparison with other organisms, objects, and substances. He adds that descriptive science is not necessarily low-technology science, and high technology is not necessarily better. He says genomic sequencing and planetary probes are tools for descriptive science.