Occurrence of Plecia pristina Hardy, 1971 (Diptera, Bibionidae) in Dominican amber.

Abstract

Plecia pristina Hardy, 1971, originally decribed from Chiapas amber, is reported from Dominican amber. Although Chiapas and Dominican amber are thought to be of approximately the same age, there are few previously published examples of species common to both faunas.

Full text

First record of the march fly genus Plecia (Diptera: Bibionidae) in
Dominican amber
John Skartveit and Günter Bechly
With 2 figures
Abstract: The fossil march y Plecia pristina Hardy, 1971, that was previously only known from
Mexican Chiapas amber, is briey described as rst record of the genus Plecia and second species of
the family Bibionidae from Dominican amber.
Key words: Diptera, Bibionidae, Plecia, Dominican amber, Tertiary, Miocene, fossil insects.
1. Introduction
Flies of the family Bibionidae are among the most
abundant insects in Tertiary fossil assemblages (Wed-
mann 1998; Collomb et al. 2008) and numerous spe-
cies have been named from Palaearctic and Nearctic
deposits. In contrast, bibionids are relatively uncom-
mon in amber (brasero et al. 2009; skartveit 2009;
ZHerikHin et al. 2009) an d rat her few species have been
described from this medium (meunier 1907; Hardy
1971; Waller et al. 2000; Gee et al. 2001; skartveit
2009). Amber fossils often show excellent preserva-
tion of anatomical details and thus can be studied al-
most like specimens of extant species, in contrast to
compression fossils where many important characters
are generally unavailable.
The genus Plecia Wiedemann, 1828 is a speciose,
tropical and subtropical (skartveit 1997; Collomb et
al. 2008) group of ies with a particularly rich fos-
sil record. In the current fauna, the genus is conned
to areas with warm climates; its distribution extends
north to the southeastern USA (denmark et al. 2010)
and to the Primorye region of Russia (krivosHeina &
krivosHeina 1998). In the Tertiary, the genus obvious-
ly had a much wider distribution and large numbers
of specimens are found in some fossil deposits in Eu-
rope (e.g., tHéobald 1937; Wedmann 1998; Collomb
et al. 2008), North America (e.g., melander 1949) and
Asia (e.g., ZHanG 1993). A number of species are also
known from European amber (meunier 19 0 7; Gee
et al. 2001; skartveit 2009). However, thus far only
Plecia pristina Hardy, 1971 has been described from
New World Amber. This species was described from
the Miocene amber of Chiapas, Mexico.
In the last couple of decades a very substantial ma-
terial of fossil insects has been obtained from amber
mined in the Dominican Republic (Poinar & Poinar
1994). This amber often yields specimens of spectacu-
larly high quality. In contrast to the situation with the
Baltic amber inclusions, the climate in the Dominican
Republic is believed to have changed relatively little
since the deposits were formed, and the continued
survival of some of the species found in amber seems
possible, though as far as we are aware of no case of
this has been reported. The Recent fauna of the Do-
minican Republic includes at least one species of the
genus Plecia, Plecia fasciapenna FitZGerald, 1998.
However, only a single species of bibionid, Dilophus
matilei Waller et al., 2000 ha s thus far been desc r ibe d
from Dominican amber.
©2013 E. Schweizerbart’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Stuttgart, Germany www.schweizerbart.de
DOI: 10.1127/0077-7749/2013/0338 0077-7749/2013/0338 $ 1.00
N. Jb. Geol. Paläont. Abh. 269/1 (2013), 97–100 Article
Stuttgart, July 2013
eschweizerbart_xxx

98 J. Skartveit and G. Bechly
Presently, in the absence of DNA barcoding data,
only males of the genus Plecia can be identied with
certainty to species, relying on the genitalia, which for-
tunately show a substantial morphological divergence
in this genus. With Recent material this is generally
a minor problem since most collecting methods give
male-biased samples anyway. The Recent Neotropi-
cal species were reviewed by Hardy (1945), since then
the only substantial addition to the known fauna is the
work of FitZGerald (1998) who described a further 18
species. Since 1998, only one further species has been
described by bravo et al. (2001).
Currently, we report for the rst time specimens of
the genus Plecia from Dominican amber.
Fig. 1. Plecia pristina, three males (total length of middle specimen 6.0 mm), SMNS Do-3784-M.
eschweizerbart_xxx

First record of the march fly genus Plecia (Diptera: Bibionidae) in Dominican amber 99
2. Studied material
Plecia pristina Hardy, 1971
Figs. 1-2
Material: SMNS Do-3784-M – three males in a medium-
sized piece of amber (Fig. 1). SMNS Do-1367-K – one
male in a small, slightly opaque piece of amber. SMNS Do-
1307-K – one male in a small piece of amber (Fig. 2).
These male specimens conform well to the description
of Hardy (1971). They are medium-sized Plecia specimens
with orange-red thorax, the antenna has an eight-segmented
agellum consisting of subspherical segments. The wings
are rather narrow, clear except for a small, dark pterostigma,
the vein R2+3 is short and curved. The terminalia t Hardy’s
descriptions and drawings well. The epandrium has a short,
mesal process and rounded lateral lobes, the gonocoxoster-
nite has digitiform lateral and mesal lobes, and the gonosty-
lus is relatively small, simple and hook-shaped.
Unidentied material: SMNS Do-2817-D – one male and
one fem ale, specimens appea r to be cove red in mou ld (prob-
ably being partly decayed before being covered by resin),
morphological characters generally impossible to see, also
obscured by numerous cracks in the resin.
3. Discussion
The occurrence of a species described from Chiapas
amber in Dominican amber is not unexpected since
both deposits are of early to mid-Miocene age (approx-
imately 20-15 myp, iturralde-vinent & maCPHee
1996; kraemer 2007), from the same climatic zone
and also originate from the same genus of tree (Hy-
menaea sp.), suggesting quite simila r ecological cond i-
tions. It is noteworthy that bibionid fossils, which are
very abundant in some Tertiary lacustrine sediments,
are scarce in amber. This is most likely due to the
Fig. 2. Plecia pristina, male (total length ca. 5.5 mm), SMNS Do-1307-K.
eschweizerbart_xxx

100 J. Skartveit and G. Bechly
ecology and behavior of the group: bibionids are more
typical of grasslands than of forest habitats, and tend
to swarm in open areas, not in closed forest where they
would be likely to come in contact with fresh resin.
On the other hand, swarming bibionids, being clumsy
iers, often end up in water and are thus likely to be
preserved in lacustrine sediments.
Acknowledgements
We thank the two reviewers, Dr. andré nel (MN H N, Par is)
and Dr. Jakub ProkoP (Charles University, Prague), for cor-
rections and helpful comments on the manuscript.
References
brasero, N., nel, A. & miCHeZ, D. (2009): Insects from the
Early Eocene amber of Oise (France): diversity and pal-
aeontological signicance. – Denisia, 26: 41-52.
bravo, F., Castro, I. & araúJo, F.T. (2001): Una nova es-
pécie de Plecia (Diptera, Bibionidae) de nordeste bra-
sileiro. – Acta Biológica Leopoldense, 23: 157-165.
Collomb, F.-M., nel, A., FleCk, G. & Waller, A. (2008):
March ies and European Cenozoic palaeoclimates
(Diptera: Bibionidae). – Annales de la Sociéte Ento-
mologique de France, (N.S.), 44: 161-179.
denmark, H.A., mead, F.W. & Fasuto, T.R. (2010): Love-
bug Plecia nearctica Hardy (Insecta: Diptera: Bibioni-
dae). – EENY (University of Florida) 47.
FitZGera ld, S.J. (1998): Eighteen new species of Neotropi-
cal Plecia (Diptera: Bibionidae) and taxonomic not es on
the genus. – Transactions of the American Entomologi-
cal Society, 124: 133-164.
Gee, J., nel, A., menier, J.-J. & de PloëG, G. (2001): A new
lovebug y (Insecta, Diptera) from the lowermost Eo-
cene amber of the Paris Basin. – Geodiversitas, 23: 341-
348.
Hardy, D.E. (1945): Revision of Nearctic Bibionid ae in clud-
ing Neotropical Plecia and Penthetria (Diptera). – Bul-
letins of the University of Kansas, 30: 367-547.
Hardy, D.E. (1971): A new Plecia (Diptera, Bibionidae)
from Mexican amber. – University of California Publi-
cations in Entomology, 63: 65-67.
iturralde-vinent, M.A. & maCPHee, R.D.E. (1996): Age
and palaeogeographical origin of Dominican amber. –
Science, 273: 185 0 -1852.
krivosHeina, N.P. & krivosHeina, M.G. (1998): The ies of
the family Pleciidae (Diptera) new to the fauna of Rus-
sia. – International Journal of Dipterological Research,
9: 105-108.
melander, A.L. (1949): A report on some Miocene Diptera
from Florissant, Colorado. – American Museum Novi-
tates, 1407: 1-59.
meunier, F. (1907): Beitrag zur Fauna der Bibioniden, Si-
muliiden und Rhyphiden des Bernsteins. – Jahrbuch der
Preußischen Geologischen Landesanstalt Berlin, 24:
391-404.
Poinar, G. & Poinar, R. (1994): The Quest for Life in Am-
ber. – 219 pp.; Reading (Helix Books & Addison-Wes-
ley).
skartveit, J. (1997): Family Bibionidae. – In: PaPP, l. &
darvas, b. (Eds.) Contributions to a Manual of Pa-
laearctic Diptera, 2: 41-50; Budapest (Science Herald).
skartveit, J. (2009): Fossil Hesperinidae and Bibionidae
(Diptera: Bibionoidea) from Baltic amber. – Studia dip-
terologica, 15: 3-42.
solórZano kraemer, M.M.S. (2007): Systematic, palaeo-
ecology, and palaeobiogeography if the insect fauna
from Mexican amber. – Palaeontographica, (A), 282:
1-133.
tHéobald, N. (1937): Les insectes fossiles des terrains Oli-
gocènes de France. – 471 pp; Nancy (G. Thomas).
Waller, A., nel, A. & menier, J.-J. (2000): Le premier
Dilophus fossile de l’ambre dominicain (Diptera, Bi-
bionidae). – Revue française d’Entomologie, (N.S.), 22:
149 -153.
Wedmann, S. (1998): Taphonomie der Bibionidae (Insecta:
Diptera) aus der oberoligozänen Fossillagerstätte Enspel
(Westerwald, Deutschland). – Neues Jahrbuch für Geo-
logie und Paläontologie, Monatshefte, 1998: 513-528.
Wiedemann, C.R.W. (1828): Aussereuropäische zwei-
ügelige Insekten. Aus Fortsetzung des Meigensche
Werkes. Erster Theil. – 608 pp.; Hamm (Schulz).
ZHanG, J. (1993): New Miocene species Bibionidae (In-
secta: Diptera) with discussion on taxonomic position of
Clothonopsis miocenica. – Acta Palaeontologica Sinica
32: 141-150.
ZHerikHin, V.V., sukaCHeva, I.D. & rasnitsyn, A.P. (2009):
Arthropods in contemporary and some fossil resins. –
Palaeontological Journal, 43: 987-1005.
Manuscript received: March 19th, 2013.
Revised version accepted by the Stuttgart editor: April 30th,
2013.
Addresses of the authors:
JoHn skartveit, NLA Universit y College, Bergen, Postboks
74 Sandviken, 5812 Bergen, Norway.
Günter beCH ly, Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stutt-
gart, Rosenstein 1, 70191 Stuttgart, Germany;
e-mail: guenter.bechly@smns-bw.de
eschweizerbart_xxx