Before the summer turns to winter: The third labidostommatid genus from baltic amber has subtropical kin

Abstract

Following the discovery of the genera Labidostomma and Sellnickiella in Paleogene amber, a fossil of the genus Eunicolina was found for the first time in a piece of Baltic amber from the Hoffeins collection. The genus is known by four extant species: three European and one American. Eunicolina is distinguished notably by the multiplication of the pustules around the posterior part of the dorsal shield. The presence of this genus in Baltic amber confirmed that the family was represented in the early Cenozoic by genera whose members are presently confined to rather warm or cool, or Mediterranean climatic conditions, either in the South or in the North hemisphere, or cosmopolitan. The past and present distributions of the labidostommatid genera known from Baltic amber are discussed with respect to environmental changes. A key for orienting the identification of the genera and subgenera of Labidistommatidae is provided, including the fossil species.