Das Leibniz-Institut zur Analyse des Biodiversitätswandels

ist ein Forschungsmuseum der Leibniz Gemeinschaft

A fossil biting midge with a complex pheromone evaporator

AutorInnen: 
Frauke Stebner, Ryszard Szadziewski, Peter T. Rühr, Hukam Singh, Jörg U. Hammel, Gunnar Mikalsen Kvifte, Jes Rust
Erscheinungsjahr: 
2016
Vollständiger Titel: 
A fossil biting midge (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) from early Eocene Indian amber with a complex pheromone evaporator
ZFMK-Autorinnen / ZFMK-Autoren: 
Publiziert in: 
Scientific Reports
Publikationstyp: 
Zeitschriftenaufsatz
Bibliographische Angaben: 
Stebner, F., Szadziewski, R., Rühr, P. T., Singh, H., Hammel, J. U., Kvifte, G. M. & Rust, J. (2016): A fossil biting midge (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) from early Eocene Indian amber with a complex pheromone evaporator. Scientific Reports 6: 34352. DOI: 10.1038/srep34352
Abstract: 

The life-like fidelity of organisms captured in amber is unique among all kinds of fossilization and represents an invaluable source for different fields of palaeontological and biological research. One of the most challenging aspects in amber research is the study of traits related to behaviour. Here, indirect evidence for pheromone-mediated mating behaviour is recorded from a biting midge (Ceratopogonidae) in 54 million-year-old Indian amber. Camptopterohelea odora n. sp. exhibits a complex, pocket shaped structure on the wings, which resembles the wing folds of certain moth flies (Diptera: Psychodidae) and scent organs that are only known from butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera) so far. Our studies suggests that pheromone releasing structures on the wings have evolved independently in biting midges and might be much more widespread in fossil as well as modern insects than known so far.