Acta Palaeontologica Polonica

A new soldier beetle from Eocene Baltic amber

Fabrizio Fanti and Janusz Kupryjanowicz

Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 62 (4), 2017: 785-788 doi:https://doi.org/10.4202/app.00388.2017

The family Cantharidae is a worldwide distributed group of flattened and soft-bodied beetles displaying aposematic
colouration. These beetles, commonly known as soldier beetles, have an extensive fossil record dating back to the
Lower Cretaceous. The majority of fossil material, referred to Cantharidae, is known from amber inclusions. In
this paper we describe and illustrate a new soldier beetle Kuskaella macroptera gen. et sp. nov. from the Baltic amber. It is characterised by pronotum of the male parallel-sided in basal third and abruptly narrowed towards apex, and
of the female gradually and steadily narrowing from the basal margin to the apex; globular head; unequal maxillary
palpomeres with the last segment elongated-globular and pointed; long elytra slightly surpassing the last abdominal
segment. This finding is the first described species of both sexes preserved in a single amber piece.

Fabrizio Fanti [fantifab@alice.it], Via del Tamburino 69, I-53040 Piazze (SI), Italy. Janusz Kupryjanowicz [kuprzool@uwb.edu.pl], Andrzej Myrcha Nature Center, University of Białystok, ul. Ciołkowskiego 1J, 15-245 Białystok, Poland.


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