First finding of a fossilized Cantharidae (Insecta: Coleoptera) from the Middle Miocene deposits in Romania

Abstract

The extraordinary fossil sites of Vlǎdiceni (Iaşi, Romania) recently discovered, with lithostratigraphy of Middle Miocene age, have uncovered a rich fauna especially of fishes, molluscs, amphipods and insects. This includes also the first fossil specimen of family Cantharidae from both this geological formation and from Romania: Malthodes (Malthodes) vladiceniensis sp. nov., which is illustrated and described and compared with living and fossil species of the genus.