Fossils are more and more used in phylogenetic evolutionary studies either for clade calibration, or as terminals in a dataset including morphological characters. The strength of these methodological advances relies however on the quality and completeness of the fossil record. For crickets (Insecta, Orthoptera, Gryllidea), few ancient (pre-Cenozoic) well-preserved fossils are known, except for isolated wings often classified in purely fossil groups and a few fossils found in Cretaceous amber. Here, we present two remarkable fossils from mid-Cretaceous amber of France, that were imaged using X-ray synchrotron microtomography and exhibit an exquisite preservation allowing description with a precision similar to that of extant taxa. Palaeonemobius occidentalis Laurent and Desutter-Grandcolas, gen. nov., sp. nov. and Picogryllus carentonensis Josse and Desutter-Grandcolas, gen. nov., sp. nov. are the oldest representatives of the Nemobiinae and Podoscirtinae subfamilies of the Trigonidiidae and Oecanthidae families respectively. P. carentonensis Josse and Desutter-Grandcolas, gen. nov., sp. nov. is also the smallest adult male with a full stridulatory apparatus ever documented in crickets (body length 3.3 mm), and the first taxon of the cricket clade for which male genitalia can be partly described. We discuss the significance of Cretaceous fossils of crickets for future evolutionary studies of this clade.

The Palaeocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) is one of the most important Cenozoic climatic events shaping modern biodiversity, yet reconstructions of its palaeobiomes remain controversial. Here we describe Gesomyrmex gallicus sp. nov., a new, extinct species of the ant genus Gesomyrmex Mayr, 1868, based on minor and major workers preserved in the early Eocene amber of Oise, France. Although there are only seven known extant species in the genus, all confined to warm and humid forests of SE Asia, the fossil record of Gesomyrmex indicates that the genus once radiated across Eurasia. The new species therefore provides direct evidence that this radiation likely co-occurred with the PETM. This observation constrains palaeoclimatic reconstructions of the Early Eocene by requiring the presence of an extensive, homogeneous and interconnected rainforest-like biome across palaeo-Eurasia, a scenario otherwise corroborated by pollen assemblages. The phases of regression of warm and humid forests and the widening of dry biomes probably occurred later during the Eocene, in between hyperthermals, and were probably less extensive than some computer models predicted.

Terrestrial fossils from the Palaeogene of Tibet could help us to better understand the past climate and environment in this area. We herein report a new late Eocene non-marine fossil site from southern Nima Basin, central Tibet, SW China, including abundant insects and fishes. These fossils are similar to those from the late Eocene (∼39.5–37 Ma) Lunpola–Nima sediment depo-centres in sharing the dominating aquatic bug Aquarius lunpolaensis and cyprinid fishes. Chalcolestes tibetensis sp. nov., the oldest representative of the modern family Lestidae, is described. Lestidae were previously only recorded in Western Europe, and the oldest records were from the uppermost Eocene of France and the UK. The present discovery demonstrates that Lestidae already had a broad distribution during the Eocene and probably originated much earlier. The recent representatives of Chalcolestes occur in the low-altitude ponds or lakes of Western Palaearctic. Together with the other freshwater fossils in this site, this new discovery indicates a humid climate and low altitude for the Nima Basin and nearby basins in the middle part of the Bangong Nujiang suture zone.

A new Saldidae (MCT 6959-I) from the Crato Formation (Lower Cretaceous, late Aptian), Santana Group, Araripe Basin (northeastern Brazil) is described and illustrated. Olindasalda gondwanica n. gen. n. sp. is the first fossil Saldidae recorded from the Gondwanan supercontinent. The new genus can be distinguished from other members of the subfamily Chiloxanthinae by its small (4.49 mm) and oval-elongated body, absence of spots on the corium of the hemelytron, long R vein, and much-reduced first cell of the membrane. Remarks on the geology of the type locality and a comparison of the new genus with other saldids are provided.

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The Diptera fauna from the late Eocene of the Isle of Wight (Bembridge Marls) is studied including redescriptions of formerly described material. The fauna includes the following taxa: Anisopodidae – one species; Bibionidae – 11 species; Ceratopogonidae – one described and two unidentified species; Chironomidae – undetermined species of three subfamilies; Culicidae – four species; Cylindrotomidae – one species; Dixidae – one species; Keroplatidae – one described and four unidentified species; Limoniidae – 31 species; Mycetophilidae – 14 species; Psychodidae – two species; Scatopsidae – two species; Sciaridae – three species; Simuliidae – an unnamed species; Tipulidae – nine species. Diptera Brachycera: Agromyzidae – unidentified species; Anthomyzidae – two species; Asilidae – two species; Bombyliidae – one species; Chloropidae – one species; Dolichopodidae – unidentified species; Empididae – unidentified species; Ephydridae – two species; Heleomyzidae – unidentified species; Lauxaniidae – unidentified species; Otitidae – one species; Phoridae – unidentified species; Rhagionidae – two species; Stratiomyidae – two species; Syrphidae – unidentified species; Tabanidae – one species. Following new taxa are described: Leptotarsus (Longurio) fragmentatus Krzemiński, n. sp., Leptotarsus (Longurio) wegiereki Krzemiński, n. sp., Tipula (s. lato) anglicana Krzemiński, n. sp. (Tipulidae); Cyttaromyiarossi Krzemiński, n. sp. (Cylindrotomidae); Gurnardia corami Krzemiński, n. gen, n. sp., Pilaria hooleyi Krzemiński, n. sp., Pilaria volodii Krzemiński, n. sp., Cheilotrichia (Cheilotrichia) duplicata Krzemiński, n. sp., Cheilotrichia (Empeda) szwedoi Krzemiński, n. sp., Symplecta (Psiloconopa) gurnetensis Krzemiński, n. sp., Orimarga (Orimarga) lenae Krzemiński, n. sp., Dicranomyia (Dicranomyia) azari Krzemiński, n. sp., Dicranomyia (Dicranomyia) fasciata Krzemiński, n. sp., Helius (Helius) edmundi Krzemiński, n. sp., Helius (Helius) popovi Krzemiński, n. sp., Dicranoptycha staryi Krzemiński, n. sp. (Limoniidae); Wightipsychoda Azar, n. gen. (Psychodidae); Dilophus andrewrossi Nel, Colomb & Waller, n. sp., Bibiodes massiliensis Nel, Colomb & Waller, n. sp. (Bibionidae); Azana cockerelli Blagoderov, n. sp., Aglaomyia vectis Blagoderov, n. sp., Dziedzickia oligocenica Blagoderov, n. sp., Palaeoempalia saxea Blagoderov, n. sp., Mycomyahoolei Blagoderov, n. sp., Leia gurnardensis Blagoderov, n. sp. (Mycetophilidae); Regmocleminahaennii Krzemiński, n. sp. (Scatopsidae); Sylvicola problematica Krzemiński, n. sp. (Anisopodidae); Palaeoberidops barkeri Nicholson, n. gen., n. sp. (Stratiomyidae). The Diptera fauna and palaeohabitat of the Insect Bed is discussed.

The late Eocene mantis genus and species Protohierodula crabbi can be attributed to the extant clade Artimantodea incertae sedis sit. nov., but its original placement in the Manteidae is not supported. It remains the oldest reliable described Artimantodea.

New fossils of the families Nemopteridae and Chrysopidae are recorded and a new species of Hemerobiidae, Sympherobius yulei sp. nov., is described from the late Eocene Insect Bed of the Isle of Wight. The new nemopterid belongs to the tribe Stenonemiini and is very similar to a specimen already recorded from the Early Oligocene of Alsace (France), suggesting that these warm-climate insects were not affected by the ‘Oi-1 Glaciation' cooling.

Sinothemis difficilis new genus new species, youngest and first accurate Chinese representative of the small family Selenothemistidae, is described and illustrated. It is closely related to the genus Turanothemis, known from the Karatau outcrop in Kazakhstan. The genus Caraphlebia, known from the Middle Jurassic of Antarctica, seems to strongly differ from the other representatives of this family and may belong to another family. The fossil was collected from the Upper Jurassic (157.3 ± 1.5 Ma; near Oxfordian/Kimmeridgian boundary) Guancaishan locality, Jianping County, Western Liaoning, NE China. It belongs to the late assemblage of the Yanliao biota, while the early assemblage is represented by the putatively close damsel-dragonfly Paraliassophlebia from the Jiulongshan Formation of northern Hebei Province.

UUID: http://zoobank.org/8b11b148-852e-4079-a9fb-1884bf4b6d94

Fossil insects from the Triassic-Jurassic boundary of England could provide an important resource for investigating the severity of extinction events in the terrestrial realm of the uppermost Triassic. However, the fossil record is poorly understood for this period even though there are abundant historical collections. Many of these collections are still in need of taxonomic revision before they can be used to reconstruct past entomofaunas and make inferences about diversity change through time. This paper is part of a larger project to revise the taxonomy of insects across the Triassic-Jurassic boundary of England to better understand changes in insect diversity through the Triassic-Jurassic boundary and associated extinction period. Herein, the damsel-dragonfly family Liassophlebiidae Tillyard, 1925 is revised and an additional specimen from the Early Jurassic of Antarctica is included. Rossiphlebia new genus is erected for Liassophlebia jacksoni Zeuner, 1962; L. batheri Tillyard, 1925 is considered nomen dubium and another specimen originally attributed to L. batheri is identified as L. withersi Tillyard, 1925. Liassophlebia (?) clavigaster Tillyard, 1925 and L. (?) hopei (Brodie, 1845) are considered incertae sedis at the generic level. Liassophlebia gigantea Zeuner, 1962 is based on a fragmentary specimen but has several unique key characteristics. We redescribe it in Anglophlebia new genus and tentatively in Anglophlebiidae new family in Heterophlebioptera. Also discussed are L. magnifica Tillyard, 1925, L. withersi, and L. pseudomagnifica Whalley, 1985, which are redescribed with updated figures. Caraphlebia antarctica Carpenter, 1969 was originally described from the Early Jurassic of Antarctica as being closely related to Liassophlebia; it is herein confirmed in Selenothemistidae Handlirsch, 1939.

UUID: http://zoobank.org/8fe9a39c-1c3b-4bda-92a6-92c1a0fc95b8

The new dragonfly family Austroperilestidae n. fam. based on Austroperilestes hunco n. gen. and sp. is erected from early Eocene of Patagonia (Argentina). Its phylogenetic relationships within the Zygoptera (sensu Bechly, 1996) are discussed. The new family seems to be related to Perilestidae, with a Neotropical and Afrotropical recent distribution.

A new species of the Lower Jurassic genus Dorsettia Whalley, 1985 is described from the Lower Jurassic Badaowan Formation of the Junggar Basin, northwestern China, as Dorsettia sinica new species. It provides additional morphological characters for this genus and is the earliest Jurassic dragonfly in China after the end-Triassic extinction. The occurrence of Dorsettia in England and northwestern China indicates that the end-Triassic extinction probably did not have a drastic influence on damsel-dragonflies, or that the dispersal of damsel-dragonflies was relatively quick during the earliest Jurassic.

Iberonepa romerali n. gen. and sp. is the most abundant insect species found in Lower Cretaceous (Barremian) lithographic limestones at “Las Hoyas,” Spain. External features of this species indicate that it should be assigned to the family Belostomatidae, with a similarity to the species Stygeonepa foersteri Popov, 1971, which was found in the Upper Jurassic (Tithonian) lithographic limestones of Solnhofen. This article discusses the relation between these two species and subfamilies of the Recent Belostomatidae. The new “Las Hoyas” species is described from adult specimens and from molts of nymphs, these differing only slightly from one another. The abundant number of specimens and the generally exceptional preservation have allowed interpretation of its probable natatory behavior on the basis of the functional morphology of the insect's legs.

The specimen studied here represents the first fossil Euzygoptera Bechly, 1996 described in South America. The lack of fossil damselflies from this subcontinent is probably an artifact related to the scarcity of fossil insect collections. Differences in the world fossil record of these insects (as many others) could be correlated to the level of activity of researchers in the different continents. Thus the fossil Lestinoidea Calvert, 1901 (sensu Bechly, 1996) are mainly known from Europe (Nel and Paicheler, 1994) where a long history of paleoentomology (and paleontology of Odonata) took place. From North America there is only one record in the Eocene of the USA (Cockerell, 1940), despite an ancient and long activity in this field. From Asia the group is known from the Oligo-Miocene of Turkey (Nel and Paicheler, 1994) and from the Miocene of Japan (Fujiyama, 1985). What does not fit in this hypothesis is the curious lack of records from Asia, despite the high number of paleoentomologists of the Russian school. The possible explanation of this could be that Russian researchers have preferred historically to study Paleozoic and Mesozoic rather than Cenozoic insects. Thus, due to the recent increasing number of paleoentomologists, new discoveries similar to the present one shall probably modify the present fragmentary fossil record of Lestinoidea.

The Paleozoic to Mesozoic grade ‘Protozygoptera’ is revised. It appears to be composed of two main lineages, namely the superfamily Permagrionoidea, and the Archizygoptera. The latter taxon forms a monophyletic group together with Panodonata (=crown-Odonata plus their closest stem-relatives). Therefore, the ‘Protozygoptera’ as previously understood is paraphyletic. Diagnostic characters of the ‘Protozygoptera’, Permagrionoidea, and Archizygoptera are re-evaluated. The Permolestidae is considered as a junior synonym of the Permagrionidae. The following new taxa are described: Permolestes sheimogorai new species, Permolestes soyanaiensis new species, Epilestes angustapterix new species, Solikamptilon pectinatus new species (all in Permagrionidae); Lodeviidae new family (for Lodevia); Luiseiidae new family (including Luiseia breviata new genus and species); Kennedya azari new species, Kennedya pritykinae new species, Kennedya ivensis new species, Progoneura grimaldii new species (all in Kennedyidae); Engellestes chekardensis new genus and species (in Bakteniidae); and Azaroneura permiana new genus and species (in Voltzialestidae). The Kaltanoneuridae and Oboraneuridae are revised. The evolution of protozygopteran Odonatoptera during the transition from the Permian to the Triassic is discussed. The larger taxa of the permagrionoid lineage apparently did not cross through the Permian–Triassic boundary, unlike the more gracile Archizygoptera. This last group shows a remarkable longevity from the late Carboniferous to the Early Cretaceous. It also presents a great taxonomic and morphological stability, with genera ranging from the Permian to the Triassic, and a wing venation pattern nearly unchanged from the late Carboniferous to the Late Triassic. The mass extinction at the end of the Permian period seemingly had a minor effect on these tiny and delicate insects.

Three fossil taxa of megapodagrionid damselflies are described and figured from the Paleogene localities in Europe on the basis of isolated wings. Eckfeldia superstes (Wappler, 2003) gen. nov. is described from the laminated mudstones of middle Eocene age from Eckfeld Maar, Germany. Furagrion jutlandicus (Henriksen, 1922) gen. nov. is recorded from the laminated claystones of lowermost Eocene age from the Ølst and Fur-Formation, Denmark, and an undetermined megapodagrionid damselfly is recognized from middle Eocene strata. Taphonomy and color preservation in the fossils are briefly considered. Characters used for phylogenetic analyses in extant and fossil Megapodagrionidae are discussed. The biogeographic and paleoecological implications of the new European fossils are briefly discussed.

The odonatan fauna of the Late Eocene of the Isle of Wight is revised. The following taxa are revised or described: the gomphaeschnids Oligoaeschna? anglica Cockerell & Andrews, 1916 and Anglogomphaeschna eocenica gen. et sp. nov.; the aeshnids ‘Oplonaeschna’ vectensis Cockerell & Andrews, 1916, Aeschnophlebia andreasi Nel et al., 2005, Oligaeschna wedmanni sp. nov., and a ‘Gynacanthinae’ species; Neophya legrandi sp. nov., first fossil representative of the Cordulephyidae; three undescribed ‘Corduliidae’; Eomacrodiplax incompleta gen. et sp. nov., first fossil representative of the Urothemistidae; the second representative of the Palaeogene family Bolcathoridae; a Thaumatoneuridae Dysagrionini species A; the megapodagrionid Oligoargiolestes oligocenum Kennedy, 1925; the two hypolestids Anglohypolestes fasciata gen. et sp. nov. and Eohypolestes hooleyi gen. et sp. nov.; the coenagrionid ‘Enallagma' oligocena Cockerell & Andrews, 1916, and three other undescribed species; Angloprotoneura emilielacroixi gen. et sp. nov., first fossil European representative of the damselfly family Protoneuridae; and the lestid Lestes aff. regina Théobald, 1937. This fauna has strong similarities with the Recent Afrotropical and Indo-Malayan Odonata, suggesting a warm palaeoclimate for the Late Eocene of the Isle of Wight. ‘Megalestes’ anglicus Cockerell, 1915 is a Zygoptera Lestiformia or Coenagrionomorpha of uncertain affinities.

A significant portion of Mesozoic amber is fully opaque. Biological inclusions in such amber are invisible even after polishing, leading to potential bias in paleoecological and phylogenetic studies. Until now, studies using conventional X-ray microtomography focused on translucent or semi-opaque amber. In these cases, organisms of interest were visualized prior to X-ray analyses. It was recently demonstrated that propagation phase contrast X-ray synchrotron imaging techniques are powerful tools to access invisible inclusions in fully opaque amber. Here we describe an optimized synchrotron microradiographic protocol that allowed us to investigate efficiently and rapidly large amounts of opaque amber pieces from Charentes (southwestern France). Amber pieces were imaged with microradiography after immersion in water, which optimizes the visibility of inclusions. Determination is not accurate enough to allow precise phylogenetic studies, but provides preliminary data on biodiversity and ecotypes distribution; phase contrast microtomography remains necessary for precise determination. Because the organisms are generally much smaller than the amber pieces, we optimized local microtomography by using a continuous acquisition mode (sample moving during projection integration). As tomographic investigation of all inclusions is not practical, we suggest the use of a synchrotron for a microradiographic survey of opaque amber, coupled with microtomographic investigations of the most valuable organisms.

Proprionoglarisguyoti gen. nov., sp. nov., Parapsyllipsocus vergereaui gen. nov., sp. nov., and Prospeleketoralbianensis gen. nov., sp. nov. are described from the Early Cretaceous amber of Archingeay (SW France). Libanoglarismouawadi gen. nov., sp. nov. is described from the Early Cretaceous amber of Lebanon. They are all placed into the suborder Trogiomorpha, incertae familiae. The discovery of these new taxa together with a first phylogenetic analysis of the trogiomorphan families demonstrate the necessity of a cladistic redefinition of the currently admitted major subdivisions of this suborder.