Fossil water striders in Cretaceous French amber (Heteroptera: Gerromorpha: Mesoveliidae and Veliidae)

Monica Moryama Solorzano-Kraemer , Vincent Perrichot (1) , Carmen Soriano (2) , Jakob Damgaard

1 GR - Géosciences Rennes
2 ESRF - European Synchrotron Radiation Facility

Fossil gerromorphan bugs from the Cretaceous (Albian-Cenomanian boundary) amber of Charentes, SW France, are reviewed. A larva described by Perrichot et al. (2005) as incertae familiae within the Gerromorpha is now placed in the Mesoveliidae. Three new genera and species are also described and illustrated: Emilianovelia audax Solórzano Kraemer & Perrichot, gen. et sp.n., and Malenavelia videris Solórzano Kraemer & Perrichot, gen. et sp.n., which are placed in the Mesoveliidae: Mesoveliinae; and Arcantivelia petraudi Solórzano Kraemer & Perrichot, gen. et sp.n., which is the first Mesozoic member of the Veliinae. The relationships between these fossils and their palaeoecology are discussed. The new discoveries confirm the antiquity of the semi-aquatic gerromorphans, particularly the clade (Veliidae+Gerridae). The habitat is described as aquatic and likely marine-influenced, yet adaptation to a fully marine habitat in these gerromorphans remains difficult to establish.

Domaines: Sciences de la Terre

Monica Moryama Solorzano-Kraemer, Vincent Perrichot, Carmen Soriano, Jakob Damgaard. Fossil water striders in Cretaceous French amber (Heteroptera: Gerromorpha: Mesoveliidae and Veliidae). Systematic Entomology, 2014, 39 (3), pp.590-605. ⟨10.1111/syen.12077⟩. ⟨insu-01015181⟩