Dictyorachys gen. nov., an enigmatic genus of jewel beetles from mid-Cretaceous amber of northern Myanmar (Coleoptera: Buprestidae)

Abstract

The mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber has yielded a wide diversity of polyphagan beetles, but the fossil record of Buprestidae is comparatively sparse. Cretaceous buprestids in amber with exquisite morphological details are invaluable for understanding character evolution and the origin and diversification of extant subfamilies. Here we report an enigmatic jewel beetle, Dictyorachys callidictyus Li, Volkovitsh & Cai gen. et sp. nov., based on a wellpreserved specimen entombed in mid-Cretaceous amber from northern Myanmar. The unusual character combination of Dictyorachys is not consistent with any of the known buprestid subfamilies, which is therefore tentatively classified as Buprestidae incertae sedis.