A New Spiny Reticulated Beetle (Coleoptera: Cupedidae) From

Proceedings of the Geologists’ Association 128 (2017) 798–802

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Proceedings of the Geologists’ Association

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A new spiny reticulated beetle (Coleoptera: Cupedidae) from

Cretaceous Burmese amber

a,b, a,c a,d

Edmund A. Jarzembowski *, Bo Wang , Daran Zheng

State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 39 East Beijing Rd.,

Nanjing 210008, People’s Republic of China

Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Rd., London SW7 5BD, UK

Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1, Beichen West Road, Beijing 100101, China

Department of Earth Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Article history:

Received 19 April 2017 A rare archaic beetle, Mallecupes cleevelyi sp. n., (Insecta: Coleoptera: Archostemata: Cupedidae) is

Received in revised form 3 July 2017 described from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber. This unique beetle’s distinctive form includes spines

Accepted 5 July 2017

developed on the hammer-shaped head and pronotal ‘shield’. The ornamentation is possibly protective

Available online 10 August 2017

and the conspicuous eyes point to nocturnal activity. A new subgenus, Mallecupoides subgen. nov., is

proposed for this species in line with recent revision of the reticulated beetles.

In memoriam Ron Cleevely (1934-2017)

author of World Palaeontological Collec- tions

Keywords:

Fossil beetle Mallecupes Myanmar

New species

New subgenus

1. Introduction is a little surprising considering the modern association of these

beetles with wood, but there may be a size ﬁlter involved- or even

Approaching some 360,000 described species, beetles (Coleop- competition with new terrestrial fauna (see below).

tera Linnaeus, 1758) are easily the largest order in the animal The beetle described herein belongs to a rare species with only a

kingdom. The Cupedina Ponomarenko, 1973, however, is the single known specimen from an estimated 300,000 amber

smallest beetle ‘suborder’, totalling only about 100 living species, inclusions examined. It is nevertheless a typical reticulated beetle,

and now commonly split into the even smaller suborders i.e. member of the Subfamily Cupedinae (alias cupedines),

Archostemata Kolbe, 1908 and Myxophaga Crowson, 1955 (Beutel sometimes considered to represent a separate family, e.g.

et al., 2007; Hörnschemeyer, 2011). Several hundred species of Lawrence and Slipinski (2013). It is named after the late Ron

fossil cupedinans have been described from the Permian onwards Cleevely whose interests extended beyond fossil molluscs to fossil

and the archaic archostematans are a notable element of Mesozoic collections in general, including Asia (Cleevely, 1983), building on

insect faunas, even occurring in places from where they have now the earlier work of Charles Sherborn (Taylor, 2016). The reticulated

vanished, such as the south of England (Kirejtshuk and Ponomar- beetles are so called because of their clathrate elytra (wing cases

enko, 2015). Such ﬁnds are often preserved as rock fossils, but they often showing a lattice pattern) and are the dominant arch-

are now turning up as amber inclusions in Myanmar, also known as ostematans both at the present day and in the late Mesozoic,

Burma (Jarzembowski et al., 2016). Archostematans are neverthe- although in the latter they frequently belong to an extinct tribe, the

less scarce in Burmese amber compared with earlier Cretaceous notocupedins (Jarzembowski et al., 2015). Notocupedins are also

deposits, such as in the English Weald and northeastern China: this rare in amber and this could be size related as they are usually

somewhat larger than the insect described herein (Jarzembowski

and Wang, 2016). The cupedines are traditionally split three ways

tribally into the still-living priacmins and cupedins and fossil

* Corresponding author.

ﬁ

E-mail address: [email protected] (E.A. Jarzembowski). mesocupedins: on this system, the new nd would belong to the

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pgeola.2017.07.003

E.A. Jarzembowski et al. / Proceedings of the Geologists’ Association 128 (2017) 798–802 799

ﬁrst of the three. These formal tribes are, however, considered temporarily to reduce surface interference. Drawing conventions

unworkable in the recent study by Kirejtshuk et al. (2016) so are are: solid line, distinct margin; dashed, indistinct or damaged;

referred to only informally here. dotted, extrapolated. The abbreviations used are NIGP and NIGPAS,

Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Academia Sinica.

For morphology, we follow terminology used in Jarzembowski

2. Geological setting

et al. (2016: especially Figs. 3 and 4 for ventral morphology; for

dorsal terminology, see Fig. 3 herein).

Burmese amber (amber from northern Myanmar, burmite or

‘birmite’) contains the most diverse biota in amber known from the

4. Systematic palaeontology

Cretaceous; it has been traded with neighbouring China for nearly

two millenia, but no scientiﬁc research on the insect inclusions was

undertaken there until recently, in response to the increased trade

(Wang et al., 2015). All the major divisions (over 27 orders) of Class: Insecta Linnaeus, 1758

extant insects are represented, beetles being one of the most

Order: Coleoptera Linnaeus, 1758

diverse, but the majority of species are undescribed. The fossil resin

has now been dated stratigraphically and radiometrically as late Suborder: Archostemata Kolbe, 1908

Albian to early Cenomanian: U-Pb dating of zircons from the

Family: Cupedidae Laporte, 1836

volcanoclastic matrix gave a maximum age of 98.8 0.6 m. y.s

(Cruickshank and Ko, 2003; Ross et al., 2010; Shi et al., 2012). A high Subfamily: Cupedinae Laporte, 1836 s. l.

degree of roundness of the amber and bivalve borings on the

surface suggest that it was reworked before deposition and the age 4.1. Systematic comment

is therefore considered as mid-Cretaceous, circa 100 Ma. Amber

has been found in several districts of Myanmar, but the current The subfamily is interpreted in the broad sense (sensu lato), i.e.

supply is from Myitkyina District, Kachin State, in the Hukawng including priacmins.

Valley of northern Myanmar; an active mine is located near Noije

Genus Mallecupes Jarzembowski, Wang & Zeng, 2016

Bum Village, Tanaing (Tanai) Township (Kania et al., 2015: Fig. 1;

Jarzembowski et al., 2017a: Fig. S1). Burmese amber can only be Subgenus Mallecupoides nov.

sought and worked by local people and is prepared for the foreign

jewelry trade. This means that raw material cannot be collected 4.2. Derivation of name

and inclusions such as the one described herein may be over

prepared. With the current interest in this deposit, useful From the generic stem and Greek sufﬁx for “like”, masculine.

additional ﬁnds may be expected in future.

4.3. Type species

3. Material and method

Mallecupes cleevelyi sp. nov. by monotypy; Myanmar (mid

The unique specimen was examined under an Olympus Cretaceous).

SZX7 binocular microscope with ﬁbreoptics and top and bottom

illumination; it was photographed with a Zeiss Axiocam 506 digital 4.4. Diagnosis

camera with Combine ZP software mounted on a Zeiss AX10 Zoom.

v16 binocular microscope. Drawings were prepared from both Slender fossil cupedid, nearly two-thirds of a centimetre long,

photographs and specimen by hand (EAJ). Only standard degreas- with: fairly long and narrow antennae and tarsi; forward-directed

ing and wetting were undertaken during examination to prevent head protuberances immediately posterior to the antennal

further damage. Glycerol under a cover slip was applied insertions; no posterior head tubercles; head wider than long,

Fig.1. Mallecupes (Mallecupoides) cleevelyi subgen. et sp. nov., holotype; Noije Bum, mid Cretaceous, drawing of dorsal view (left) and ventral view (right). Representative cells

(window punctures) shown in cubital area.

800 E.A. Jarzembowski et al. / Proceedings of the Geologists’ Association 128 (2017) 798–802

hammer-shaped; protruding, globular eyes with transverse 4.7. Holotype

diameter of eyes about half of distance between them; temples

pointed; pronotum subquadrate, wider than long, anterior angles NIGP 164792 beetle body in tumbled and polished amber

considerably produced and pointed apically; elytra wider than cabochon.

pronotum, parallel-sided with ten rows of maculated window Burmese amber, mid Cretaceous, late Albian or early Cenoma-

punctures, small and rounded in all rows and not enlarged or nian; probably from mine near Noije Bum Village, Tanaing

transverse (two rows shown in Fig. 1). Township, Myitkyina District, Kachin State, Myanmar, 26 15 N, 96330E.

Taxonomic LSID:30EB1539-B77B-4018-9720-3E7280A17CB5

4.5. Comparison

Publication LSID: 056C22C5-FFDE-41F1-8E69-8D12877F4E4C

The hindwing is folded and gula width and dental formula are

4.8. Presentation

unclear in the available material but the corresponding subgenus

Mallecupes (Mallecupes) clearly differs in possessing rounded

The cabochon is a yellow amber pebble with part of the

temples, pronotal angles only slightly produced and blunted

specimen polished off (right ﬂattened elytron tip and some leg

apically, and distinctly large, ovoid cells in row 10, the latter

extremities). Fern hairs present in the amber.

resembling some other Lower Cretaceous cupedines (Jarzembow-

The beetle has been ﬁgured by Xia et al. (2015: p. 104, top left)

ski et al., 2017b).

and Jarzembowski et al. (2017b: Fig. 4C) and new, more detailed

Cupopsis Kirejtshuk, Nel & Kirejtshuk, 2016 from the Upper

illustrations are given here (Figs. 1 and 2).

Cretaceous of North America with forward-directed head protu-

berances has a small, rounded head with elongate eyes and elytra

4.9. Diagnosis

with only nine rows of cells. Recent Paracupes Kolbe, 1898, also

with such protuberances and ten rows of cells (Cupopsis is a fossil

As for subgenus.

segregate) differs in lacking the spinal development on the head

and pronotum and, in addition, Paracupes (Paracupoides) (a

4.10. Description

recently recognised subgenus) has apically truncate elytra (see

Kirejtshuk et al., 2016).

Small cupedine, 2.2 mm wide, 6.4 mm long (including man-

Mallecupes (Mallecupoides) cleevelyi subgen. et sp. nov.

dibles); body elongate (length: width ratio nearly 3:1), ﬂattened,

and hirsute (covered with small setae/scales), spines and spurs

4.6. Derivation of name developed locally. Cuticle blackened and tuberculate, the latter

including insides of cells (producing maculae; Jarzembowski et al.,

After Ron Cleevely, palaeontologist and archivist. 2015).

Fig. 2. M. (M.) cleevelyi subgen. et sp. nov., holotype; Noije Bum, mid Cretaceous, photographs: (a) dorsal view; (b) close-up of forebody; (c) ventral view.

E.A. Jarzembowski et al. / Proceedings of the Geologists’ Association 128 (2017) 798–802 801

Fig. 3. Mallecupes (Mallecupes) qingqingae Jarzembowski, Wang and Zheng, habitus; Noije Bum, mid Cretaceous, morphology drawing (dorsal view after Jarzembowski et al.,

2017b).

4.10.1. Head third tarsomeres short, especially third; fourth bilobed underneath

Short and broad with bulging eyes, rounded laterally; anterior and 5th simple, clawed; pro- and metatarsi shorter and longer than

protuberances present, directed forward above antennal bases; pro- and metatibiae respectively.

temples pointed, wider than eyes. Neck short and narrower than

head. Antennae long, inserted on top of head, reaching mid length 4.10.3. Abdomen

of body, 11-segmented, ﬁliform; scape (ﬁrst antennal segment) Elongate, apex acute, blunted; ventrite 5 one and three-quarters

exceptionally long, curved; third antennomere (segment) slightly times as along as ventrite 4; ventrite 1 not divided, shorter than 5;

shorter than fourth and not elongated. Mandibles (jaws) well all ventrites tegular (i.e. not ﬂat).

developed, curved anteriorly. Maxilla long, palp extending beyond

mandibles. 4.10.4. Comparison

The new species is readily distinguished from its congener,

4.10.2. Thorax Mallecupes (Mallecupes) qingqingae Jarzembowski et al., 2017b,

Prothorax broader than long, wider than head, narrower than which has rounded temples and only slightly produced and

hindbody. Pronotum laterally depressed but not ridged medially, blunted pronotal angles (Jarzembowski et al., 2017b: Fig. 4A–C)

with biﬁd anterior angles, latter extending as pointed, sharp and distinctly large ovoid cells in elytral row ten (loc. cit.: Fig. 2)

spines. Prothoracic sutures (notopleural and sternopleural) dis- which may be homoplasious (Section 4.5). The latter species is also

cernible. larger (7.8–9.2 mm long; loc. cit.) as are Paracupes species

Pterothorax ventrally with distinct subtrapezoidal metaventrite (10.4–15 mm long) and evidently Cupopsis (c. 10 mm long)

and short, spindle-shaped metatrochantins; dorsally, mesoscu- (Kirejtshuk et al., 2016). Species of the latter two genera also

tellum small, subtriangular; elytra (forewings) elongate, over- have more or less rounded temples so the unique spinosity of M.

lapping hindbody, shoulders rectangular, apices rounded; suture (M.) cleevelyi subgen. et sp. nov. is a possible autapomorphy.

broad; ten longitudinal rows of small, maculated window cells

present (up to three or four maculae per cell). Elytral disc 5. Concluding discussion

comparatively ﬂat with three raised longitudinal veins (ﬁrst anal

(A1), cubital (CuA) and median (M)) as well as intercalaries; vein The exposed metatrochantins and separated procoxae of this

A2 short, faint; two further veins discernible below discal fold new beetle, as well as elongated body, long antennae, bilobed

(radial (R) and subcostal (Sc)). Epipleural rim narrow, without cells. tarsomeres and tegular ventrites are typical of crown cupedines.

Hindwings folded. Extant species have larvae which feed on fungus-infested dead

Legs. Coxae getting larger posteriorly; procoxa rounded, wood or even tree roots, whereas the adults are thought to subsist

mesocoxa elongated, metacoxa transverse triangular; procoxae on pollen/plant sap; they are considered relict, more derived beetle

completely separated by prosternum. Femur stout, profemur families now also occupying the wood-feeding niche (Hörnsche-

extending beyond edge of prothorax and scape, mesofemur meyer, 2005). The Burmese amber species are relatively uncom-

reaching/overlapping edge of hindbody; metafemur only reaching mon, but the two described so far share prominent eyes, also seen

edge of abdomen. Tibia thin, pro- and mesotibiae spurred and in other amber insects such as cockroaches and considered to be a

slightly sinuous/curved respectively, metatibia straight; pro- and nocturnal adaptation (Vršanský and Bechly, 2015). In common

metabiae clearly longer than pro- and metafemora. Tarsus with with some other archaic beetles occurring in Burmese amber, the

elongate ﬁrst tarsomere getting longer posteriorly; second and new species has a well-developed armature, in this case a distinctly

802 E.A. Jarzembowski et al. / Proceedings of the Geologists’ Association 128 (2017) 798–802

spiny forebody. The amber has also yielded various predators Jarzembowski, E.A., Wang, B., Zheng, D., 2017a. A new ommatin beetle (Insecta:

Coleoptera) with unusual genitalia from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber.

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(Perrichot et al., 2016). The latter have now been found with insect

Jarzembowski, E.A., Wang, B., Zheng, D., 2017b. The ﬁrst cupedine beetle from

prey in their jaws (unpublished observation, BW) and the new Burmese amber (Coleoptera: Cupedidae). Comptes Rendus Palevol 16, 241–247.

Kania, I., Wang, B., Szwedo, J., 2015. Dicranoptycha Osten Sacken, 1860 (Diptera,

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This research (grant nos in parentheses) was supported by the

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