The genus Leptoconops Skuse (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae)in Early Cretaceous Charentese amber

Joanna Choufani (1) , Dany Azar , Vincent Perrichot (2) , Carmen Soriano (3) , Paul Tafforeau (3) , André Nel (1)

1 OSEB - Origine, structure et évolution de la biodiversité
2 GR - Géosciences Rennes
3 ESRF - European Synchrotron Radiation Facility

A new species of biting midge is described and figured based on five females from the uppermost Albian amber of France. One specimen preserved in opaque amber was reconstructed by propagation phase contrast X-ray synchrotron microtomography, allowing for detailed observation of minute external features. Leptoconops daugeroni Choufani, Azar and Nel, sp. nov. can be attributed to the group of subgenera [Holoconops Kieffer (Ann Hist-Nat Mus Natl Hung 16:31­136, 1918)+(Megaconops Wirth and Atchley+Leptoconops s. str. + Proleptoconops Clastrier (Parassitologia 16:231­238, 1974))], making inference on its palaeoecology possible, with larvae of this clade living in moist and usually saline sandy soil on coastal and inland beaches, which is congruent with the current reconstruction of the palaeoenvironment of this amber deposit.

Keywords: insecta; leptocnops; synchroton imaging; French anber; cretaceous; palaeoecology

Domains: Paleontology

Joanna Choufani, Dany Azar, Vincent Perrichot, Carmen Soriano, Paul Tafforeau, et al.. The genus Leptoconops Skuse (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae)in Early Cretaceous Charentese amber. Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments, 2011, 91 (4), pp.285-291. ⟨10.1007/s12549-011-0057-1⟩. ⟨insu-00662050⟩