State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology and Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
George O Poinar
Department of Integrative Biology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, United States
Chunpeng Xu
State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology and Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
De Zhuo
Beijing Xiachong Amber Museum, Beijing, China
Edmund A Jarzembowski
State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology and Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China
State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology and Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China
Mermithid nematodes are obligate invertebrate parasites dating back to the Early Cretaceous. Their fossil record is sparse, especially before the Cenozoic, thus little is known about their early host associations. This study reports 16 new mermithids associated with their insect hosts from mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber, 12 of which include previously unknown hosts. These fossils indicate that mermithid parasitism of invertebrates was already widespread and played an important role in the mid-Cretaceous terrestrial ecosystem. Remarkably, three hosts (bristletails, barklice, and perforissid planthoppers) were previously unknown to be parasitized by mermithids both past and present. Furthermore, our study shows that in contrast to their Cenozoic counterparts, Cretaceous nematodes including mermithids are more abundant in non-holometabolous insects. This result suggests that nematodes had not completely exploited the dominant Holometabola as their hosts until the Cenozoic. This study reveals what appears to be a vanished history of nematodes that parasitized Cretaceous insects.
