Jr. George O. Poinar

Oregon State University | OSU · Department of Integrative Biology

Stratiomyidae is one of the most species-rich and morphologically diversified Diptera families of the orthorraphous Brachycera. Despite the large species diversity and prevalence in various environments, soldier flies are rare in the fossil records, especially in amber deposits. Here we present the first two Prosopochrysini fossils from Miocene amb...

A new soldier fly (Diptera: Stratiomyidae) in Mexican amber is described as Cyphomyia mexicana sp. nov. Diagnostic features of the new fossil include a tapering antennal flagellum, with the last three flagellomeres nearly cylindrical in shape, the terminal flagellomere appearing as an arista-like style, the presence of three transverse light bands...

The fossil record of ambrosia beetles is summarized and a new genus and species in the subfamily Mecopelminae, Gongyloceria dominicana gen. et sp. nov. is described. The new genus differs from the extant genus Mecopelmus Blackman, 1944, possessing weakly elongated tarsi, finely faceted eyes, a scape not reaching the posterior margin of the eye, coa...

A small, male cockroach (7 mm in length) in Dominican amber is described as Supella dominicana sp. n. (Blattida: Ectobiidae = Blattellidae). The dark tegmina, which are equal to the length of the abdomen, have a yellow cross bar and a central stripe giving the illusion that the body is divided into two halves. The pronotum is partially triangular i...

The recently described fossil angiosperm genus Eophylica (Rhamnaceae) was based on 18 amber-embedded specimens derived from two sites in northern Myanmar. A vegetatively similar fossil, which came from the same amber mines but which lacked flowers, had been previously described as a putative green alga and given the name Electrophycus. The dimensio...

The name Endobeuthos paleosum, previously published in this journal, was invalid due to the lack of a designation of one of the illustrations as the holotype specimen and the others as paratypes. This oversight is here corrected and the taxon name properly validated.

This article describes and illustrates a new species of the genus Amberophytum Yu, Slipinski et Pang, 2019 of the family Cerophytidae from mid- Cretaceous Burmese Amber. The new species, A. maculatum s.n. differs from A. birmanicum Yu, Slipinski et Pang, 2019 in the smaller body size, shorter metatarsomere 1, and more convex body. A key to the spec...

Salpinganthium hispaniolanum gen. et sp. nov. is described as a new fossil legume from mid-Tertiary forests of Hispaniola. Arborescent legumes of tribe Detarieae previously described from these forests include Hymenaea protera and Prioria dominicana. Flowers of the new genus and species have a bilaterally symmetrical corol-la of five petals, 10 fre...

A tylenchid nematode parasite of a male long-legged fly, Tachytrechus sanus Osten Sacken (Diptera: Dolichopodidae) from Montana, USA is described as Parasitylenchus myiophagus n. sp. (Nematoda: Parasitylenchidae). The new species is characterized by the presence of an extremely long first generation female and numerous short and wide second generat...

Seed germination is a crucial stage in the development of all plants. It normally occurs in the soil after the seed has fallen from the mother plant. In some infrequent instances, precocious germination (a type of viviparity or vivipary) occurs when the seed sprouts while still within the fruit. The present paper describes the first case of precoci...

A six-merous, slightly bisymmetric monocot flower in mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber is described as Mirafloris burmitis gen. et sp. nov. The perianth is composed of two whorls of 3+3 distinctly vascularized tepals connected by an irregular network of veinlets. There are two whorls of 3+3 free stamens with latrorse dehiscence positioned opposite the t...

A new species of the genus Amberophytum Yu, Slipinski et Pang, 2019 of the family Cerophytidae from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber is described and illustrated. The new species, A. maculatum n. sp., differs from A. birmanicum Yu, Slipinski et Pang, 2019 in the smaller body size, shorter metatarsomere 1, and more convex body. A key to the species of t...

Fifteen species of insect herbivores were discovered on ferns growing along the Pacific northwest coast of North America. These included insects from the orders: Diptera in the families Anthomyiidae, Cecidiomyiidae and Syrphidae: Lepidoptera in the families Erebidae, Tortricidae and Noctuidae: Hymenoptera in the family Tenthredinidae: Hemiptera in...

Tropidogyne euthystyla, described here, is the fourth species of this fossil genus to have been reported from amber deposits in northern Myanmar. The species are alike in features of the calyx, the shape and venation of the inferior ovary, and the absence of petals. They differ in the number and form of the styles, the lobing of the epigynous disc,...

In a recent article, a flower from Burmese amber was described as Diaphoranthus burmensis. It was later discovered that the genus Diaphorathus Meyen had been used previously for an asterid, Diaphoranthus fuscus (Meyen 1834). The new name for Diaphoranthus burmensis is changed below to Exalloanthum burmense.

Strombothelya, a new genus of fossil angiosperms from Myanmar amber deposits, is represented by 2 flowers that are here described as separate species. Flowers of Strombothelya have 5 spreading, more or less distinctly veined sepals. Petals are absent. There are 10 inwardly arching stamens and a half-inferior ovary, whose broadly conic superior port...

The fossil flower described here is the third species of Tropidogyne to have been collected from mid-Cretaceous amber deposits in the Hukawng Valley of northwestern Myanmar. The flower of Tropidogyne lobodisca differs from the 2 previously described species, T. pikei and T. pentaptera, in lacking stamens and having a 5-lobed nectar disc covering th...

The flower described here as Zygadelphus aetheus gen. et sp. nov. was obtained from amber mines in Myanmar, preserved in marine sedimentary deposits dating to the mid-Cretaceous Period, ca. 99 My in age. The perianth consists of ca. 10 spirally arranged tepals that vary in size and shape. The stigmatic tips of two styles are visible, the remainder...

Three flowers of a fossil angiosperm preserved in amber from Myanmar (Burma) are described as the new genus and species Dispariflora robertae. Although joined in a single cymose inflorescence, the flowers are variable in size and, in addition, they possess an unusual perianth in which 1 sepal is much enlarged and leaf-like, while the remaining 4 ar...

The flat bug family Aradidae is represented to date in Dominican Amber only by two species: Calisiopsis brodzinskyorumFroeschner, 1992 and Mezira scheveni Heiss, 2000 belonging to the subfamilies Calisiinae and Mezirinae respectively.Now two fossil species sharing the characters of the extant genera Nesoproxius Usinger & Matsuda, 1959 (N.latocanusn...

Paralienates hyalinus es descrito a partir de un ejemplar en ámbar dominicano.