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Resin of Hymenaea verrucosa Gaertner (Madagascar) trapping biota and yellow sticky trap. Natural resin bodies operating like yellow sticky traps (chironomid body lengths approximately 5.5 mm) (A and B). Example of resin emission produced at the litter level (C). (Scale bar, 15 cm.) Example of trunk resin emissions due to attacks by ambrosia beetles (D). Example of yellow sticky trap showing insects attracted by a previously trapped comparatively large animal, all recorded in the same assemblage, as observed in some amber records (yellow sticky trap width 7.35 cm) (E).
Source publication
Significance
It is not known whether the fossil content of amber accurately represents the arthropod biodiversity of past forests, and if and how those fossils can be compared with recent fauna for studies and predictions of biodiversity change through time. Our study of arthropods (mainly insects and spiders) living around the resinous angiosperm...
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... family level, there are slight differences in the relative abundance of Diptera between resin and yellow sticky trap samples, but those differences do not exceed the confidence intervals obtained from random permutation (SI Appendix, Fig. S4), which are large, given the heterogeneity of the yellow sticky trap samples. For other groups [Coleoptera (beetles) and Ara- neae (spiders)], family-level data only come from yellow sticky traps and resin. However, as in the case of Diptera, the resin samples for both Coleoptera and Araneae plot near the periphery of the 2D NMDS ...
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... These resin bodies operate as hanging yellow sticky traps ideal for catching large amounts of flying or active runner insects, such as hymenop- terans (much more common in resin and yellow sticky traps than in malaise traps) or active flying dipteran chironomids (the most common dipteran family in the resin samples and yellow sticky traps) (Fig. 4 A and ...
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... the suborder Glossata, are rarely pre- served in fossil resins (20,21). According to our field observations, this is probably because the few butterflies that rest on the bark and become trapped by the sticky resin most likely are instead eaten by ants before being completely embedded, similar to the fate of large animals, such as lizards ( Fig. 4E). At lower taxonomic levels, var- iability among samples is greater and mixture modeling suggests that dividing the samples into clusters is less likely than retaining a single, broad group (SI Appendix, Figs. S1-S3). Among Diptera, Chironomidae and Cecidomyiidae are overrepresented and Sciar- idae are less common in malaise traps, ...
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... variation among samples at a given height and aggregated data exhibit abundance trends with height that likely result from the habitat and biology of the arthropod groups. For example, soil surface arthropods, such as Acari (mites) and Collembola, are common organisms in resin, amber, and yellow sticky traps, frequently trapped at low heights ( Fig. 4C) (SI Appendix, Table S2). Also, some ants, especially those that nest in litter, are frequent in yellow sticky traps at 0 m and 1 m height. For ex- ample, more than 700 specimens of the genus Nylanderia (For- micinae) occur at 0 m and 1 m in the sticky traps, likely attracted by dead animals (Fig. 4E) in the sticky glue, in contrast to ...
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... traps, frequently trapped at low heights ( Fig. 4C) (SI Appendix, Table S2). Also, some ants, especially those that nest in litter, are frequent in yellow sticky traps at 0 m and 1 m height. For ex- ample, more than 700 specimens of the genus Nylanderia (For- micinae) occur at 0 m and 1 m in the sticky traps, likely attracted by dead animals (Fig. 4E) in the sticky glue, in contrast to the arboreal ants like Crematogaster (Myrmicinae) that dominate the resin samples. Only eight specimens of Nylanderia occur in resin, but seven of them were collected from a single piece together with other insects, suggesting that the ants were also attracted by already dead but not completely ...
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... can be explained by the development of favorable microenvironments at higher heights on the trees, for example, in H. verrucosa resin sample R9 (SI Appendix, Table S1) collected in a mite-and springtail-rich microenvironment at about 3-4 m high. H. verrucosa trees also produce large quanti- ties of resin at low heights (close to the litter) (Fig. 4C), po- tentially trapping larger numbers of ground-associated flying insects such as sciarid and phorid ...
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... Turonian (90 My old), while Platypodinae may have played a similar role during the Miocene (15). In our study the genus Mitosoma (Platypodinae) is found in yellow sticky traps and in resin samples. In resin, it occurs in high abundance (91 specimens) (SI Appendix, Table S4), sug- gesting that it may have been involved in the production of resin (Fig. ...
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... Methods. Two different arthropod traps, yellow sticky and malaise traps, were located around and close, respectively, to four trees of H. ver- rucosa. The sticky traps were yellow, odorless, and with an insecticide-free sticky mixture (Fig. 4E). Traps were stable for 8 d (SI Appendix, Fig. S9) (see SI Appendix for separation method). All specimens trapped were preserved in 70% ethanol. Resin was collected from 12 different H. verrucosa tree trunks and from the litter (for locality data see SI Appendix, Table S6), without selection of those with apparent content of ...
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... average dissimilarities between sample pairs at dif- ferent heights do not show any effect, there is considerable variation among samples at a given height and aggregated data exhibit abundance trends with height that likely result from the habitat and biology of the arthropod groups. For example, soil surface arthropods, such as Acari (mites) and Collembola, are common organisms in resin, amber, and yellow sticky traps, frequently trapped at low heights ( Fig. 4C) (SI Appendix, Table S2). Also, some ants, especially those that nest in litter, are frequent in yellow sticky traps at 0 m and 1 m height. For ex- ample, more than 700 specimens of the genus Nylanderia (For- micinae) occur at 0 m and 1 m in the sticky traps, likely attracted by dead animals (Fig. 4E) in the sticky glue, in contrast to the arboreal ants like Crematogaster (Myrmicinae) that dominate the resin samples. Only eight specimens of Nylanderia occur in resin, but seven of them were collected from a single piece together with other insects, suggesting that the ants were also attracted by already dead but not completely embedded arthropods. Ants in resin and amber are likely to be dominated by arboreal species. The arboreal Crematogaster is the dominant ant genus in tree canopies in Madagascar, where it builds carton nests and is also the most abundant ant in the resin samples. In Mexican and Dominican ambers the most abundant genus is Azteca (Doli- choderinae), also an arboreal ant (28,29) that is not present in ...
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... average dissimilarities between sample pairs at dif- ferent heights do not show any effect, there is considerable variation among samples at a given height and aggregated data exhibit abundance trends with height that likely result from the habitat and biology of the arthropod groups. For example, soil surface arthropods, such as Acari (mites) and Collembola, are common organisms in resin, amber, and yellow sticky traps, frequently trapped at low heights ( Fig. 4C) (SI Appendix, Table S2). Also, some ants, especially those that nest in litter, are frequent in yellow sticky traps at 0 m and 1 m height. For ex- ample, more than 700 specimens of the genus Nylanderia (For- micinae) occur at 0 m and 1 m in the sticky traps, likely attracted by dead animals (Fig. 4E) in the sticky glue, in contrast to the arboreal ants like Crematogaster (Myrmicinae) that dominate the resin samples. Only eight specimens of Nylanderia occur in resin, but seven of them were collected from a single piece together with other insects, suggesting that the ants were also attracted by already dead but not completely embedded arthropods. Ants in resin and amber are likely to be dominated by arboreal species. The arboreal Crematogaster is the dominant ant genus in tree canopies in Madagascar, where it builds carton nests and is also the most abundant ant in the resin samples. In Mexican and Dominican ambers the most abundant genus is Azteca (Doli- choderinae), also an arboreal ant (28,29) that is not present in ...
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... properties, such as the nonvolatile compounds that af- fect viscosity and polymerization to provide physical defenses, may also influence the trapping mechanism (3). According to our field observations the resin from H. verrucosa is thinly liquid and the surface remains sticky for a long time (days), enabling for- mation of long stalactite-shaped resin bodies. These resin bodies operate as hanging yellow sticky traps ideal for catching large amounts of flying or active runner insects, such as hymenop- terans (much more common in resin and yellow sticky traps than in malaise traps) or active flying dipteran chironomids (the most common dipteran family in the resin samples and yellow sticky traps) (Fig. 4 A and ...
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... beetles are common in resin and amber (Pselaphinae and Scydmaeninae, e.g., ref. 34, our resin samples) because of predatory behavior on small arthropods such as springtails and oribatid mites (35,36). However, arboreal beetles are also well represented in recent and fossil resin and in the yellow sticky traps. Ptinidae and Chrysomelidae occur frequently in the yellow sticky traps and were also abundant at higher heights on the trees (SI Appendix, Table S4). Although Peris et al. (37) speculated that Ptinidae could have promoted resin production by damaging Upper Cretaceous trees, the jaws ob- served in amber specimens are not strong enough to damage wood and female genitalia are not cutinized for direct deposition into live wood. Thus, they more probably laid eggs on herba- ceous plants, or dead or decaying wood (34). The abundance of Ptinidae in the Madagascar yellow sticky traps and in Cenozoic ambers can instead be explained by their high activity on tree trunks. However, some beetles likely were vectors triggering resin production through wood-boring activities and should be overrepresented within amber deposits. McKellar et al. (38) mentioned the possibility that Scolytinae were actively involved in the production of resin during the Turonian (90 My old), while Platypodinae may have played a similar role during the Miocene (15). In our study the genus Mitosoma (Platypodinae) is found in yellow sticky traps and in resin samples. In resin, it occurs in high abundance (91 specimens) (SI Appendix, Table S4), sug- gesting that it may have been involved in the production of resin (Fig. ...
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... principally the suborder Glossata, are rarely pre- served in fossil resins (20,21). According to our field observations, this is probably because the few butterflies that rest on the bark and become trapped by the sticky resin most likely are instead eaten by ants before being completely embedded, similar to the fate of large animals, such as lizards ( Fig. 4E). At lower taxonomic levels, var- iability among samples is greater and mixture modeling suggests that dividing the samples into clusters is less likely than retaining a single, broad group (SI Appendix, Figs. S1-S3). Among Diptera, Chironomidae and Cecidomyiidae are overrepresented and Sciar- idae are less common in malaise traps, relative to yellow sticky traps and resin. Subsoil [e.g., some Orthoptera (mole crickets) or some Acari families] and canopy (e.g., some Araneae, Orthoptera, Lepidoptera, or Coleoptera families) fauna, and fauna living far from the resiniferous tree (e.g., aquatic insects), are poorly repre- sented in the resin ( Fig. 1) and sticky traps. The malaise trap samples differ in their abundance of large- bodied ants of the subfamily Ponerinae, comprising 30% of the individuals, in comparison with no more than 2.5% in any yellow sticky trap or resin samples. Furthermore, Ponerinae are absent from 11 of 12 resin samples. Due to the abundance of large Ponerinae in the malaise trap samples, that collection method also yields significantly larger ants (median size 5.2 mm; Fig. 3D) compared with either resin (median size 2.15 mm) or yellow sticky traps (median size 2.3 mm) (Kruskal-Wallis test, H = 9.7, df = 2, P = ...
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... some ground-dwelling arthropods are common in the resin, our results do not support Henwood's hypothesis (3) that amber with inclusions reflects subterranean resin production (see also refs. 5 and 7). In some cases, the abundance of ground- dwelling arthropods can be explained by the development of favorable microenvironments at higher heights on the trees, for example, in H. verrucosa resin sample R9 (SI Appendix, Table S1) collected in a mite-and springtail-rich microenvironment at about 3-4 m high. H. verrucosa trees also produce large quanti- ties of resin at low heights (close to the litter) (Fig. 4C), po- tentially trapping larger numbers of ground-associated flying insects such as sciarid and phorid ...
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... Methods. Two different arthropod traps, yellow sticky and malaise traps, were located around and close, respectively, to four trees of H. ver- rucosa. The sticky traps were yellow, odorless, and with an insecticide-free sticky mixture (Fig. 4E). Traps were stable for 8 d (SI Appendix, Fig. S9) (see SI Appendix for separation method). All specimens trapped were preserved in 70% ethanol. Resin was collected from 12 different H. verrucosa tree trunks and from the litter (for locality data see SI Appendix, Table S6), without selection of those with apparent content of bioinclusions. Arthropods were sorted to order level; Diptera, Coleoptera, and Araneae were sorted to family level; Hymenoptera: Formicidae were sorted to subfamily level; and Solórzano Kraemer et ...
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... family level, there are slight differences in the relative abundance of Diptera between resin and yellow sticky trap samples, but those differences do not exceed the confidence intervals obtained from random permutation (SI Appendix, Fig. S4), which are large, given the heterogeneity of the yellow sticky trap samples. For other groups [Coleoptera (beetles) and Ara- neae (spiders)], family-level data only come from yellow sticky traps and resin. However, as in the case of Diptera, the resin samples for both Coleoptera and Araneae plot near the periphery of the 2D NMDS solutions (SI Appendix, Figs. S1 and S3), but mixture modeling supports a single, heterogeneous group as the best solution. Ants in yellow sticky traps predominantly belong to small-bodied individuals of the subfamilies Formicinae and Fig. 1. Diagram of a resiniferous forest (Hymenaea model) with representation of biota trapped, mainly arthropods. Circles, main biota represented in resin; squares, scarcely represented; colored in dark or- ange, zones with a high representation in resin; colored in yellow, zones with a poor representation in resin. (A-C) Representation of the distance from the tree to the rest of the forest. Artificial malaise and sticky traps are also illustrated to indicate their location with respect to the trees (see SI Appendix for more information about methodology). Note: some species of arthropods would be found in sev- eral of the areas established here and their repre- sentation in resin will depend on several factors, including their abundance or scarcity in the areas best represented in ...
Citations
... Indeed, c. 4000 inclusions in Iberian ambers have been identified in more than 25 years of study, yielding only the single enicocephalomorphan reported herein. Given that extant enicocephalomorphans are characterized by cryptic habits such as living in leaf litter, under stones, and in decaying bark (Wygodzinsky & Schmidt 1991), if their Cretaceous relatives had a similar ecology, that would have significantly decreased the chances of fossilization, at least that in resin, consistent with actuotaphonomic studies that have demonstrated a clear entrapment bias of different groups of arthropods in modern resins (Sol orzano Kraemer et al. 2018). ...
Enicocephalomorpha, also known as unique-headed bugs, are a seldom-collected infraorder of hetero-pteran insects whose evolutionary relationships have puzzled entomologists for more than a century. Unique-headed bugs are exceptionally rare in the fossil record, which hinders our understanding of the morphological transformations of the lineage across time and also affects the calibration of molecular clock estimates used to date the origins of the infraorder. Here, we report the discovery of Enicocephalinus ibericus sp. nov. from Iberian amber in the Ariño deposit in Spain, early Albian (Early Cretaceous) in age. The new species represents the second oldest fossil enicocephalomorphan to date, and the second record of this infraorder from European deposits. Remarkably, the closest relative of E. ibericus is the congeneric E. acragrimaldii Azar from Lebanese amber that is c. 20 myr older (Barremian), indicating a long-term persistence of the Enicocephalinus lineage across geological time. A review of the existing literature enabled us to record a total of 20 congeneric insect species that have been found in both Lebanese and Iberian ambers, suggesting the existence of previously underappreciated entomofaunal connections between southern Laurasia (the European archipelago) and northern Gondwana during the Cretaceous. We show that the palaeoentomological record holds remarkable potential for elucidating the faunistic exchanges and palaeobiogeographical patterns in the peri-Tethyan region during the Cretaceous.
... To evaluate the effect of the entrapment process on tandem-running behavior, we observed movement patterns of termite mating pairs on a sticky surface. We simulated the tree resin using a sticky trap for insect collection, a method that has been used to mimic the process of resin sampling (34,35). We then compared the fossil information with the spatial organization of the leader-follower relationships during natural tandem runs ( Fig. 2A) and after being trapped by sticky traps (Fig. 2B). ...
... Red imported fire ants cover sticky surfaces with soil particles to access food resources (38), and granivorous desert ants remove sticky spider webs from nestmates to rescue them (39). Scavenging insects can be attracted by large animals trapped on a sticky surface (11,35), and the spatial distribution of these insects may have reflected their foraging behavior. Thus, future studies on behavioral responses to sticky objects by animals will increase our understanding of fossil records in amber, as well as shed light on the behavioral capacity of extant insects. ...
... The behavioral responses of animals to the sticky surface may be slightly different when the sticky surface is not solid but liquid and viscous. The viscosity of resins could be variable depending on the local conditions, age of maturation, and tree species (35). Likewise, the stickiness of the tree resin that formed the amber is unknown. ...
Fossils encompassing multiple individuals provide rare direct evidence of behavioral interactions among extinct organisms. However, the fossilization process can alter the spatial relationship between individuals and hinder behavioral reconstruction. Here, we report a Baltic amber inclusion preserving a female–male pair of the extinct termite species Electrotermes affinis . The head-to-abdomen contact in the fossilized pair resembles the tandem courtship behavior of extant termites, although their parallel body alignment differs from the linear alignment typical of tandem runs. To solve this inconsistency, we simulated the first stage of amber formation, the immobilization of captured organisms, by exposing living termite tandems to sticky surfaces. We found that the posture of the fossilized pair matches trapped tandems and differs from untrapped tandems. Thus, the fossilized pair likely is a tandem running pair, representing the direct evidence of the mating behavior of extinct termites. Furthermore, by comparing the postures of partners on a sticky surface and in the amber inclusion, we estimated that the male likely performed the leader role in the fossilized tandem. Our results demonstrate that past behavioral interactions can be reconstructed despite the spatial distortion of body poses during fossilization. Our taphonomic approach demonstrates how certain behaviors can be inferred from fossil occurrences.
... It is tempting to attribute this shift to a change in the diversity of host species, which saw some major arthropod lineages becoming extinct and ones appearing during the Cretaceous and the Paleogene period. However, several other factors could also contribute to host preferences, including the variety of sampled paleoenvironments or differences in the quality of preservation or collection practices (Penney, 2016;Solórzano Kraemer et al., 2018). ...
Analysis of specimens preserved in amber from the Cretaceous period suggests that nematodes changed their host preference towards insects with a complete metamorphosis more recently.
... The putative biology of the extinct Thylax fimbriatum and Thylacella eversiana from Zanzibar copal is unknown (Smithers 1972), although they may have occupied similar habitats to those of the other members of the family. The lepidopsocids from Oise amber may also have lived in the forest litter, together with psocids from other families, forming a diverse barklice litter fauna (Nel et al. 2005;Solórzano Kraemer et al. 2018). Interestingly, undescribed lepidopsocid specimens from Oise amber present characters similar to those typical of Thylacella eocenica (S.Á.-P. ...
The members of the family Lepidopsocidae (Psocodea: Trogiomorpha) are commonly known as scaly-winged barklice based on the presence of scales on body and wings. Interestingly, the members of the subfamily Thylacellinae, which is the sister group to the remaining members of the family, lack scales and are characterised by densely setose body and wings. We describe the thylacelline Parathylacella oisensis gen. et sp. nov. from the Eocene amber of Oise (France), corresponding to the only known fossil genus of the family. We compare it with the other genera in the subfamily. It shows a similar habitus to the genus Thylacella, and both may be closely related. The description of the new taxon increases the poorly known palaeodiversity of the lepidopsocids. We comment on the putative palaeobiology of this group and discuss new insights into the palaeobiogeography and early diversification of the subfamily Thylacellinae. An association between the thylacelline barklice and Detarieae (Fabaceae: Caesalpinioideae) trees is plausible. The biogeographic distribution might be partially explained by this association, combined with oceanic currents. Studies on Cretaceous lepidopsocids, as well as other Cenozoic specimens, are crucial to understand the evolution of this group over time, and the possible vicariance process.
... Second, charcoal, resulting from plant material charred by wildfires, is commonly found in the same stratigraphic level as amber, particularly in the Northern Hemisphere (Brown et al., 2012;Tappert et al., 2013; Supplementary data C) (Fig. 3C). Third, when bioinclusions are preserved, they correspond to similar fauna and flora under comparable biases (Penney, 2010;Solórzano Kraemer et al., 2018), although Fig. 4. Oxygen (O 2 ) and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) atmospheric composition, temperature, and Large Igneous Province (LIP) activity throughout the Cretaceous. A) Reconstruction for Cretaceous atmospheric O 2 mixing ratio (from Mills et al., 2016). ...
... The resin that generated the amber during the CREI was produced by conifers and accumulated in transitional sedimentary environments from subtropical and temperate regions, commonly associated with charcoal and coinciding with the maximum regressive surface. Moreover, the fauna and flora preserved within the CREI share comparable group compositional characteristics, possibly due to similar original paleoenvironment, and suffered comparable taphonomic biases (Martínez-Delclòs et al., 2004;Solórzano Kraemer et al., 2018;Seyfullah et al., 2018). ...
THE PAPER IS IN OPEN ACCESS IN THE URL:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2023.104486
Amber is fossilized resin that preserves biological remains in exceptional detail, study of which has revolutionized understanding of past terrestrial organisms and habitats from the Early Cretaceous to the present day. Cretaceous amber outcrops are more abundant in the Northern Hemisphere and during an interval of about 54 million years, from the Barremian to the Campanian. The extensive resin production that generated this remarkable amber record may be attributed to the biology of coniferous resin producers, the growth of resiniferous forests in proximity to transitional sedimentary environments, and the dynamics of climate during the Cretaceous. Here we discuss the set of interrelated abiotic and biotic factors potentially involved in resin production during that time. We name this period of mass resin production by conifers during the late Mesozoic, fundamental as an archive of terrestrial life, the ‘Cretaceous Resinous Interval’ (CREI).
... ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.05.22.541647 doi: bioRxiv preprint (Solórzano Kraemer et al., 2018Kraemer et al., , 2015. The processes of entrapment in tree resin have notable differences 291 from entrapment on sticky tapes, such as different adhesive properties and the engulfing properties of fresh 292 tree resin absent in sticky tape. ...
... The processes of entrapment in tree resin have notable differences 291 from entrapment on sticky tapes, such as different adhesive properties and the engulfing properties of fresh 292 tree resin absent in sticky tape. However, arthropod assemblages found in amber or tree resin are similar to 293 those captured by sticky traps (Solórzano Kraemer et al., 2018Kraemer et al., , 2015, suggesting that sticky traps mimic 294 tree resin adequately. We prepared an experimental arena by attaching a trimmed sticky trap (square with 295 80 mm side; 2-7362-01, ASONE, Japan) to the center of a plastic container (221 x 114 x 37 mm) with double-296 sided tape (Fig. S1). ...
Fossils encompassing multiple individuals provide rare direct evidence of behavioral interactions among extinct organisms. However, the fossilization process can alter the spatial relationship between individuals and hinder behavioral reconstruction. Here, we report a Baltic amber inclusion preserving a female-male pair of the extinct termite species Electrotermes affinis. The head-to-abdomen contact in the fossilized pair resembles the tandem courtship behavior of extant termites, although their parallel body alignment differs from the linear alignment typical of tandem runs. To solve this inconsistency, we simulated the first stage of amber formation, the immobilization of captured organisms, by exposing living termite tandems to sticky surfaces. We found that the posture of the fossilized pair matches trapped tandems and differs from untrapped tandems. Thus, the fossilized pair likely is a tandem running pair, representing the first direct evidence of the mating behavior of extinct termites. Furthermore, by comparing the positions of partners on a sticky surface and in the amber inclusion, we estimated to 67% the probability that the leader role in the fossilized tandem was performed by a male. Our results demonstrate that past behavioral interactions can be reconstructed despite the spatial distortion of body poses during fossilization. Our taphonomic approach clarifies how certain behaviors can be inferred from fossil occurrences.
... However, the size distribution of arthropods preserved in diverse ambers is similar to the general body size distribution of living insects in similar environments, and the size bias is qualitatively independent of the kind of trap for non-extreme values 25 . For organisms such as spiders or ants, it has been demonstrated that the size of specimens enclosed in amber depends more on the complexity of the forest structure and the biology of the organism rather than resin entrapment-related biases 26,27 . More specifically, this means that selected taxa trapped in resins represent the fauna living in and around the resin-producing trees and appear in resins because of their ecology and behaviour, usually closely related to a tree-inhabiting life 27 . ...
... For organisms such as spiders or ants, it has been demonstrated that the size of specimens enclosed in amber depends more on the complexity of the forest structure and the biology of the organism rather than resin entrapment-related biases 26,27 . More specifically, this means that selected taxa trapped in resins represent the fauna living in and around the resin-producing trees and appear in resins because of their ecology and behaviour, usually closely related to a tree-inhabiting life 27 . Still, without the size bias, the high-quality preservation of specimens in amber offers a rich record of fragile and hard-to-preserve fossils. ...
Neither fossil nor living Jacobsoniidae are found in abundance. Derolathrus cavernicolus Peck, 2010 is recorded here preserved in Holocene copal from Tanzania with an age of 210 ± 30 BP years. This leads us to three interesting conclusions: (1) This is the first time the family was found on the African continent, extending the family's distribution range to hitherto unknown localities. Derolathrus cavernicolus in Holocene copal from Tanzania expands the known distribution of the species, previously only recorded in the USA (Hawaii and Florida), Barbados, and Japan, both spatially and temporally. (2) All fossil specimens of the family have been found preserved in amber, which might be due to the small size of the specimens that prevents their discovery in other types of deposits. However, we here add a second aspect, namely the occurrence of this cryptic and currently scarce family of beetles in resinous environments, where they live in relationship with resin-producing trees. (3) The discovery of a new specimen from a family unknown on the African continent supports the relevance of these younger resins in preserving arthropods that lived in pre-Anthropocene times. Although we cannot demonstrate their extinction in the region, since it is possible that the family still survives in the already fragmented coastal forests of East Africa, we are detecting a loss of local biodiversity during the so-called Anthropocene, probably due to human activity.
... One key is the process by which nutrients tied up in dead animals of various sizes are released by the activity of scavenger animals 16,17 . Dipterans are well known as decomposers of vertebrate carcasses, playing an essential role in the forests 18-21 and are also abundant as bioinclusions in resin 12,22,23 . In resiniferous forests, the relevance of a precise analysis of which kinds of organisms are trapped in the resin and which are not (or with an extremely low possibility of becoming trapped) was studied by Solórzano Kramer et al. 12 . ...
... In actualistic experiments with sticky traps, a non-natural entomological trap that correlates with resin 12 www.nature.com/scientificreports/ and in the present work Fig. 7). ...
... Sampling The sticky traps were active, collecting organisms for eight days. After that, the glue of the sticky sheets was dissolved with gasoline to get their contents and be transferred to alcohol immediately (see 12 for more details). ...
When a vertebrate carcass begins its decay in terrestrial environments, a succession of different necrophagous arthropod species, mainly insects, are attracted. Trophic aspects of the Mesozoic environments are of great comparative interest, to understand similarities and differences with extant counterparts. Here, we comprehensively study several exceptional Cretaceous amber pieces, in order to determine the early necrophagy by insects (flies in our case) on lizard specimens, ca. 99 Ma old. To obtain well‑supported palaeoecological data from our amber assemblages, special attention has been paid in the analysis of the taphonomy, succession (stratigraphy), and content of the different amber layers, originally resin flows. In this respect, we revisited the concept of syninclusion, establishing two categories to make the palaeoecological inferences more accurate: eusyninclusions and parasyninclusions. We observe that resin acted as a “necrophagous trap”. The lack of dipteran larvae and the presence of phorid flies indicates decay was in an early stage when the process was recorded. Similar patterns to those in our Cretaceous cases have been observed in Miocene ambers and actualistic experiments using sticky traps, which also act as “necrophagous traps”; for example, we observed that flies were indicative of the early necrophagous stage, but also ants. In contrast, the absence of ants in our Late Cretaceous cases confirms the rareness of ants during the Cretaceous and suggests that early ants lacked this trophic strategy, possibly related to their sociability and recruitment foraging strategies, which developed later in the dimensions we know them today. This situation potentially made necrophagy by insects less efficient in the Mesozoic.
... Our understanding of the true distribution of sizes in fossil insect communities is largely incomplete due to resin-capture biases inherent to amber preservation. Solórzano Kraemer et al. [37] evaluated possible sample biases using modern communities and demonstrated that insect resin preservation is contingent on distributions across forest strata; arboreal insects are overrepresented while forest floor dwelling taxa may be sampled less often. Putting this into context with the discovery of N. vejestoria could imply that the true range of sizes in the prehistoric ant community was perhaps even greater and could suggest additional extinct diversity among large-bodied ants in the Miocene. ...
Background
Ponerine ants are almost exclusively predatory and comprise many of the largest known ant species. Within this clade, the genus Neoponera is among the most conspicuous Neotropical predators. We describe the first fossil member of this lineage: a worker preserved in Miocene-age Dominican amber from Hispaniola.
Results
Neoponera vejestoria sp. nov. demonstrates a clear case of local extinction—there are no known extant Neoponera species in the Greater Antilles. The species is attributable to an extant and well-defined species group in the genus, which suggests the group is older than previously estimated. Through CT scan reconstruction and linear morphometrics, we reconstruct the morphospace of extant and fossil ants to evaluate the history and evolution of predatory taxa in this island system.
Conclusions
The fossil attests to a shift in insular ecological community structure since the Miocene. The largest predatory taxa have undergone extinction on the island, but their extant relatives persist throughout the Neotropics. Neoponera vejestoria sp. nov. is larger than all other predatory ant workers known from Hispaniola, extant or extinct. Our results empirically demonstrate the loss of a functional niche associated with body size, which is a trait long hypothesized to be related to extinction risk.
... Diptera are very abundant in Defaunation resin, copal, and amber, and Empidoidea are among the most abundant Diptera within Cretaceous ambers (e.g., Grimaldi & Cumming, 1999;Sinclair & Grimaldi, 2020;Ngô-Muller et al., 2021). We know that selected taxa trapped in resins represent the fauna living in and around the resin-producing tree and appear in resins because of their ecology and behavior (Solórzano-Kraemer et al., 2018). In the case of the herein described specimens, their capture in resin is most probably due to swarming and predatory behaviors (Chvála, 1976;Daugeron, 1997). ...
Hybotidae fly species, also known as dance flies, in Cretaceous ambers have been described from Lebanon, France, Myanmar, Russia, and Canada. Here we describe Grimaldipeza coelica gen. et sp. n., and recognize another two un-named species, in Spanish amber from the middle Albian El Soplao and lower Cenomanian La Hoya outcrops. The fore tibial gland is present in the new genus, which is characteristic of the family Hybotidae. We compare Grimaldipeza coelica gen. et sp. n. with the holotypes of Trichinites cretaceus Hennig, 1970 and Ecommocydromia difficilis Schlüter, 1978, and clarify some morphological details present in the latter two species. Further taxonomic placement beyond family of the here described new genus was not possible and remains incertae sedis within Hybotidae until extant subfamilies are better defined. We provide new paleoecological data of the hybotids, together with paleogeographical and life paleoenvironmental notes. A table with the known Cretaceous Hybotidae is provided. Furthermore, the La Hoya amber-bearing outcrop is described in detail, filling the information gap for this deposit.
