Outstanding Contributions to Logic

The superorder Odonatoptera Martynov, 1932 comprises a great number of clades (e.g., Meganisoptera, Protanisoptera, Triadophlebiomorpha, etc.) that could be considered as orders at the same rank of the extant Odonata (dragonflies, damsel-dragonflies and damselflies) (Nel & Piney, 2023). The Odonatoptera is very ancient, with representatives dating from the Serpukhovian (late Early Carboniferous) (Petrulevičius & Gutiérrez, 2016). But how old are the Panodonata Bechly, 1996, the clade containing the Odonatoptera with the synapomorphy ‘distal discoidal vein MAb (= distal side of discoidal cell) and subdiscoidal vein (origin of CuA on MP) aligned’ (Bechly, 2016)? Kohli et al. (2016) proposed the triassolestid Triassolestodes asiaticus (age ca. 237 Ma) as the oldest known representative of the crown Odonata because this family belongs to the Epiproctophora (the stem group of the extant Anisoptera). Kohli et al. (2021: fig. 4) dated the divergence between the Zygoptera and Epiproctophora as between 298 and 253 Ma, on the basis of the work of Kohli et al. (2016). Nel et al. (1999) and Prokop et al. (2015) described the two families assigned to Panodonata: Saxonagrionidae Nel, Gand, Fleck, Béthoux & Lapeyrie, 1999 and Huangiopteridae Prokop, Szwedo, Lapeyrie, Garrouste & Nel, 2015 on the basis of two wings from the Guadalupian of Lodève (Southern France).

The late Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian) witnessed the intensification of climatic gradients with the onset of the Late Paleozoic Ice Age. During this time, high latitudes were characterized by the spread of ice sheets, whereas the palaeotropics hosted the emergence of vast, verdant, coal-forming, swamp forests. Not only were the planet’s landscapes transformed through proliferation and diversification of vascular plants, but the evolution of diverse insect groups, including ‘primitive’ roachoids, reconfigured the terrestrial fauna. Here, we re-examine and describe new roachoid taxa from Moscovian strata of the Benxi Formation. The studied insect material was sourced from early 20th century collections held in the Swedish Museum of Natural History and the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, and is co-preserved with a broad array of plant fossils—some with evidence of herbivory damage. Our findings introduce Tangshanblatta inexpectata gen. et sp. nov. (Phyloblattidae), Pseudaphtoromylacris paucinervis gen. et sp. nov. (in the family Pseudaphtoromylacridae, fam. nov.), Spilarchimylacris kaipingense sp. nov. (Archimylacridae), and Etomylacris straeleni sp. nov. and Sooblattella ater sp. nov. (both Mylacridae). We establish Pseudaphtoromylacridae on the basis of several new characters that clearly differentiate it from related families. Etomylacris is restored from synonymy with Mylacris. The co-preserved plant fossils reveal a rich palaeovegetation including pteridophytes, ‘pteridosperms’, sphenophytes, conifers, and arborescent lycophytes. The remains of these plants bear seven distinct damage types belonging to four functional feeding groups: hole feeding, margin feeding, piercing and sucking, and oviposition. This diversity of insects, plants, and herbivory strategies signifies a relatively complex food web in the Carboniferous tropical coal-forming forests of northeast China. This study also demonstrates the value of historical museum collections and the importance of inter-institutional collaboration for piecing together palaeobiodiversity and palaeoecological information from now inaccessible fossil sites.

Lacewings (Insecta: Neuroptera) are a remarkable group of insects displaying astonishing diversity during the Jurassic and Cretaceous. Neuroptera is an order of holometabolous insects, which, together with Megaloptera and Raphidioptera, comprise the superorder Neuropterida (Engel et al., 2018). The morphologically diverse larvae of Neuroptera are known for their specialized sucking mouthparts for fluid feeding, as well as for their distinct life histories, such as trap builders (antlions), freshwater parasites (spongillaflies), and termite predators (beaded lacewings) (Oswald & Machado, 2018). The adults are usually predators, with some exceptions, and exhibit greatly reticulated wings, with variable sizes, shapes and coloration patterns. The order comprises ca. 6,000 extant species in 15 families, and the fossil record impressively adds 15 and 1,078 extinct families and species, respectively (Winterton et al., 2018; Oswald, 2024). During the past decades, extinct lacewings with long proboscides have been discovered in fossil records and placed in the superfamily Psychopsoidea. Investigating the role of these insects in pollination and examining the comparative morphological structure of mouthparts is paramount to our understanding of lacewing diversity, evolution, and function (Lu et al., 2016).

Lestes polonicus sp. nov. and Calosoma winnicaensis sp. nov., respectively, the first Oligocene Lestidae and Carabidae from Poland, are described from the marine Menilite Formation. Lestes polonicus sp. nov. is the ninth species of the Eocene-Oligocene Lestes group with a longitudinal intercalary row of cells in the area between MP and CuA, confirming its abundance and diversity during this period, and extending its distribution to the easternmost part of Central Europe. This group has not been recorded later during the Miocene and Pliocene. With the described species, the genus Calosoma seems to have been as diverse during the Oligocene as it is today in Europe.

The family Anaxyelidae, known primarily from the fossil record, consists of two subfamilies—Syntexinae, and Anaxyelinae—spanning from the Middle Jurassic to the present. Among the latter, Syntexinae are mostly represented by fossil taxa from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, with Syntexis being the only extant genus, and no known Cenozoic occurrences. In this study, we describe a new genus and species of Syntexinae, Deresyntexis bethouxi gen. et sp. nov. from mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber. Although this discovery does not resolve existing diversity gaps, the well-preserved specimen provides valuable insights into the evolutionary traits and adaptations of Syntexinae during the Cretaceous. The unique morphology of the specimen, distinct from previously described genera, contributes to a deeper understanding of the evolutionary history and morphological diversity of the family.

A new net-winged beetle, Dostaliella filiformis gen. et sp. nov., is described from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber. Due to distinct morphology, the new tribe Dostaliellini trib. nov. is erected for this species in the subfamily Erotinae (Coleoptera, Elateroidea, Lycidae). Unlike previously described Cretaceous lycids, Dostaliella filiformis gen. et sp. nov. features a median pronotal areola. The presence of Erotinae in Cenomanian fauna is consistent with age estimates for Erotinae based on molecular phylogenies not calibrated with lycid data. The finding represents physical evidence for the timing of the radiation of the Erotinae and their low morphological disparity since the early phase of their evolution. Notably, all known lycid specimens preserved in Burmese amber are females with fully developed elytra, wings, and other appendages. Therefore, we still do not have any direct fossil evidence of neoteny in net-winged beetles and must reject the recent claim that the females of Cenomanian Lycidae, i.e., Burmolycini, were neotenic. None of the known Cretaceous lycid females resemble the fully larviform females seen in some modern groups of net-winged beetles.

Phaenops gutowskii sp. nov. is described, diagnosed, and illustrated based on a well-preserved specimen from Baltic amber. This new extinct jewel beetle is compared with the Phaenops aerea species group in the Palaearctic as well as closely related congeners in the Nearctic Realm. Trophic association of the new Eocene buprestid with pine trees and development of its larvae in phloem of Pinus sp. is supposed.

This is a supplement to the Burmese (Myanmar) amber checklist and bibliography covering taxa described or recorded during 2024. Up to the end of 2024, 2,989 species have been recorded from Kachin amber (excluding trace fossils and marine encrusters), of which 226 were named in 2024. Additionally, 21 species have been recorded from older Hkamti amber (three named in 2024) and two species from younger Tilin amber (both named in 2024). Another three species were named in 2024, though it is uncertain whether they are in Kachin, Hkamti or Tilin amber. In total, 235 species (including one trace fossil) were named from Cretaceous amber from Myanmar during 2024.

The neuropteran family Ithonidae is a relict group among extant lacewings, with less species diversity and disjunctive global distribution, but represented by a more diverse palaeofauna since the Late Triassic. However, most fossil ithonids are preserved in compression rocks, while those from amber inclusion are particularly rare. Here we report a new genus and species of Ithonidae, Phyllithone dongshengi gen. et sp. nov., from the mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber of northern Myanmar, representing the second ithonid genus and species from this deposit. The new genus can be assigned to the extinct Principiala genus-group by the specialized MP and CuA in both fore- and hind wings, which is shared by many groups of Myrmeleontoidea as a possibly convergently evolved trait. The new finding highlights the morphological diversity and evolution in early ithonids.

Stygioberotha groehni sp. nov. (Neuroptera: Berothidae: Paraberothinae) is described from mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber. Its foreleg setation is very similar to that of S. siculifera Nakamine et al., 2020, but it is easily distinguished from that species by the presence of five spines on the ventral edge of the protibia (four in S. siculifera), forewing maculation (absent in S. siculifera), and a much shorter scapus. Analysis of wing venation, scapus and prothoracic structure, and female genitalia support the Paraberothinae as being a subfamily of Berothidae rather than of Rhachiberothidae.

Waninka haikowielandi Simutnik gen. et sp. nov. is described and illustrated based on a female specimen from amber found in Lower Lusatia (Germany). This parasitic wasp is the first known record of a hymenopteran discovered in amber from Lower Lusatia and is believed to be from the late Eocene. The new genus is characterized by very long postmarginal and stigmal veins, the first funicular segment ring-like and conspicuously smaller than the second one, and the eye not reaching the occipital margin. The taxonomic position of the new genus is incertae sedis within the subfamily Encyrtinae. An updated key to the genera of late Eocene encyrtids of the subfamily Encyrtinae is provided. The “Baltic river” as the route of amber redeposition to Lower Lusatia is discussed.

The ensign wasps, family Evaniidae, are an immediately distinctive family of parasitoid Hymenoptera, characterized by the reduced metasomal gaster attached high to the mesosoma via a short petiolate first metasomal segment. Species are, where known, parasitoids of roach oothecae. Among the approximately 20 extant genera, the genus Evaniella Bradley, 1905 is a relatively common and widespread group, found throughout the New World and with approximately 75 described extant species (Deans, 2005). In fact, Evaniella is the most widespread New World genus of ensign wasps. Given this, it is remarkable that species of Evaniella should be found in the Eocene of Europe (vide infra), demonstrating a once greater distribution relative to today. Naturally, however, this presumes that the fossil species belong to the crown group of the genus and that the lineage is monophyletic. Monophyly of Evaniella has been supported in recent phylogenetic estimates (e.g., Sharanowski et al., 2019) but fossil species have yet to be included in such analyses for the family.

Eutriptus Wollaston, 1862 is a small histerid genus currently discontinuously distributed from the Canary Islands to the Himalayas. According to the last revision (Lackner & Kapler, 2007), the Recent fauna includes four valid species. As characterized by Lackner & Kapler (2007), the genus can be distinguished from the very similar and widely distributed in tropical Africa and South-eastern Asia genus Diplostix Bickhardt, 1921 in the presence of longitudinal meso-metasternal striae on the metasternum.

Four new species of Eucnemidae are described from Cretaceous Myanmar amber: Myall ovata sp. nov., Fiegelia gracilis sp. nov., Fiegelia serraticornis sp. nov. and Fiegelia longicornis sp. nov. Based on new specimens, the diagnosis of the genus Fiegelia Muona, 2020 is revised, Cenomana annieae Hsiao & Otto, 2024 and Fiegelia tarsalis Muona, 2020 are revised. More species of derived Eucnemidae with two protibial apical spurs are discovered, indicating that the single protibial apical spur in different derived Eucnemidae lineages is a result of multiple losses of the other spur.

Mesozoic amber-bearing deposits provide invaluable insights into palaeoecosystems and the evolutionary history of life. Here we report newly discovered amber from the Yetang Formation in the Xingning Basin, eastern Guangdong Province, dated to the early Late Cretaceous (late Cenomanian–Coniacian). The amber pieces are millimetric in size and predominantly exhibit a yellow-brownish hue. Biostratigraphic evidence suggests that the Xingning amber predates the recently discovered Guangzhou amber from the Dalangshan Formation. The Xingning amber is found alongside abundant fossils of gymnosperms and angiosperms, as well as diverse animal fossils, including insects, conchostracans, ostracods, bivalves, and dinosaurs, within a lacustrine setting. Together, these fossils form part of the Late Cretaceous Xingning Biota.