Scientific Reports (Apr 2024)

Eocene amber provides the first fossil record and bridges distributional gap in the rare genus Robsonomyia (Diptera: Keroplatidae)

  • Alicja Pełczyńska,
  • Wiesław Krzemiński,
  • Vladimir Blagoderov,
  • Lars Vilhelmsen,
  • Agnieszka Soszyńska

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-59448-y
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 14, no. 1
pp. 1 – 13

Abstract

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Abstract Until now, the genus Robsonomyia was represented by two extant species: R. reducta Matile & Vockeroth, 1980 from North America and R. sciaraeformis (Okada, 1939) from Asia. This paper presents the first fossil members of the genus Robsonomyia, which is also the first record from Europe. Two new fossil species from Baltic amber are described: R. baltica Pełczyńska, Krzemiński & Blagoderov, sp. nov. and R. henningseni Pełczyńska, Krzemiński & Blagoderov, sp. nov.. The presence of fossil Robsonomyia spp. on the European continent suggests Holarctic distribution of the genus in the past. We also discuss possible pathways of its intercontinental dispersion.