Eur. J. Entomol. 101 (1): 145-151, 2004 | DOI: 10.14411/eje.2004.019

A new Upper Cretaceous species of Chresmoda from Lebanon - a latest representative of Chresmodidae (Insecta: Polyneoptera inc. sed.): first record of homeotic mutations in the fossil record of insects

André NEL1, Dany AZAR2, Xavier MARTÍNEZ-DELCLOS3, Edouard MAKHOUL4
1 Laboratoire d'Entomologie and CNRS UMR 8569, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, 45 Rue Buffon, F-75005 Paris, France; e-mail: anel@mnhn.fr
2 Lebanese University, Faculty of Science II, , Biology Department, Fanar - Matn - B.P. 26110217, and Saint-Joseph University, Campus of Sciences and Technology, Mar Roukos (Mkalles), B.P. 11-1514 Beirut, Lebanon; e-mail: azar@mnhn.fr
3 Departament d'Estratigrafia, Paleontologia i Geociencies Marines, Facultat de Geologia, Universitat de Barcelona, E-08071, Barcelona, Spain; e-mail: xdelclos@geo.ub.es
4 Saint-Joseph University, B.P 165507, Beyrouth, Lebanon; e-mail: maked@cyberia.net.lb

The most recent representative of the semi-aquatic insect family Chresmodidae is described from the Lebanese Cenomanian marine lithographic limestone. Its highly specialized legs, with a high number of tarsomeres, never observed in other orders of insects, were probably adapted for water surface skating. We hypothesize the occurrence of a unique, extraordinary "antenna" mutation affecting the distal part of the legs of the Chresmodidae, maybe homeotic or affecting some genes that participate in the leg development and segmentation. The Chresmodidae had a serrate ovipositor adapted to endophytic egg laying in floating or aquatic plants. They were probably predaceous on nektonic small animals. As the Chresmodidae and the aquatic water skaters of the bug families Veliidae and Gerridae were contemporaneous during at least the Lower Cretaceous, these insects probably did not cause the extinction of this curious group.

Keywords: Insecta, Polyneoptera, Chresmodidae, Cenomanian, Lebanon, systematic palaeontology, Palaeoecology, leg morphology, pleustonic life

Received: March 28, 2003; Revised: July 25, 2003; Accepted: October 8, 2003; Published: March 25, 2004  Show citation

ACS AIP APA ASA Harvard Chicago Chicago Notes IEEE ISO690 MLA NLM Turabian Vancouver
NEL, A., AZAR, D., MARTÍNEZ-DELCLOS, X., & MAKHOUL, E. (2004). A new Upper Cretaceous species of Chresmoda from Lebanon - a latest representative of Chresmodidae (Insecta: Polyneoptera inc. sed.): first record of homeotic mutations in the fossil record of insects. EJE, 101(1), 145-151. doi: 10.14411/eje.2004.019
Share...
Download citation
  • BibTeX (.bib)
  • Bookends (.ris)
  • EasyBib (.ris)
  • EndNote (.enw)
  • EndNote 8 (.xml)
  • ISI WoS (.isi)
  • Medlars (.medlars)
  • Mendeley (.ris)
  • MODS (.xml)
  • Papers (.ris)
  • RefWorks (.txt)
  • RefManager (.ris)
  • RIS (.ris)
  • MS Word (.xml)
  • Zotero (.ris)
    • Open full article

    References

    1. Andersen N.M. 1982: The semiaquatic bugs (Hemiptera: Gerromorpha): phylogeny, adaptations, biogeography and classification. Entomonograph. Scandinavian Science Press, Klampenborg, Denmark, 3: 445 pp Go to original source...
    2. Andersen N.M. 1999: The evolution of marine insects: phylogenetics, ecological, and geographical aspects of species diversity in marine water striders. Ecography 22: 98-111 Go to original source...
    3. Andersen N.M., Farma A. Minelli A. & Piccoli G. 1994: A fossil Halobates from the Mediterranean and the origin of sea skaters (Gerridae). Zool. J. Linn. Soc. 112: 479-489 Go to original source...
    4. Baudoin R. 1980: Sur les Gerris des miroirs d'eau actuels et les Chresmoda des lagunes post-recifales portlandiennes de Solnhofen. Annls Sci. Natur., Zool.-Biol. Anim. 2: 111-116
    5. Carpenter F.M. 1992: Superclass Hexapoda. In: Moore R.C. & Kaesler R.L. (eds): Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology. The Geological Society of America and the University of Kansas, Boulder, Colorado, (R), Arthropoda 4, 3/4: xxii + 655 pp
    6. Esaki T. 1949: The occurrence of the Mesozoic insect Chresmoda in the Far East. Insecta Matsumurana 17: 4-5
    7. Frickhinger K.A. 1994: The Fossils of Solnhofen. Goldschneck Verlag, Korb, pp. 5-336
    8. Handlirsch A. 1906- 1908: Die Fossilen Insekten und die Phylogenie der Rezenten Formen. Ein Handbuch fuer Palaeontologen und Zoologen. 1430 pp. (Engelman, V.W. publ., Leipzig) [published in parts between 1906 and 1908 as follows: pp. i-vi, 1-160, pls. 1-9 (May 1906); pp. 161-320, pls. 10-18 (June 1906); pp. 321-480, pls. 19-27 (August 1906); pp. 481-640, pls. 28-36 (October 1906); pp. 641-800, pls. 37-45 (February 1907); pp. 801-960, pls. 46-51 (June 1907); pp. 961-1120 (November 1907); pp. 1121-1280 (January 1908); pp. vii-ix, 1281-1430 (July 1908). Dated from publication information given on p. ix.]
    9. Krassilov V. & Bacchia F. 2000: Cenomanian florule of Nammoura, Lebanon. Cretac. Res. 21: 785-799 Go to original source...
    10. Martinez-Delclos X. 1989: Chresmoda aquatica n. sp. insecto Chresmodidae del Cretacico inferior de la Sierra del Montsech (Lleida, Espana). Revta Esp. Paleontol. 4: 67-74 Go to original source...
    11. Martinez-Delclos X. 1991: Insectes Hemimetabols del Cretaci Inferior d'Espanya. Tafonomia i Paleoautoecologia. Tesi Doctoral, Departament de Geologia Dinamica, Geofisica i Paleontologia, Universitat de Barcelona, 784 pp
    12. Ponomarenko A.G. 1985: Fossil insects from the Tithonian "Solnhofener Plattenkalke" in the Museum of Natural History, Vienna. Annln Naturh. Mus., Wien 87: 135-144
    13. Ponomarenko A.G. 1986: Scarabaeiformes incertae sedis. pp. 110-112. In: Rasnitsyn A.P. (ed.): Insects in the Early Cretaceous Ecosystems of West Mongolia. Trudy Sovmest. Sov.-Mongol. Paleontol. Ehksped. 28: 213 pp. [in Russian.]
    14. Rasnitsyn A.P. 2002: Chapter 2.2.2. Infraclass Gryllones Laicharting, 1781. The Grylloneans (= Polyneoptera Martynov, 1938). pp. 254-262. In: Rasnitsyn A.P. & Quicke D.L.J. (eds): History of Insects. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, Boston, London, xi + 517 pp
    15. Rasnitsyn A.P. & Martinez-Delclos X. 2000: Wasps (Insecta: Vespida = Hymenoptera) from the Early Cretaceous of Spain. Acta Geol. Hispan. 35: 65-95
    16. Schram F.R., Hof C.H.J. & Steeman F.A. 1999: Thylacocephala (Arthropoda: Crustacea?) from the Cretaceous of Lebanon and implications for thylacocephalan systematics. Palaeontology 42: 769-797 Go to original source...
    17. Struhl G. 1981: A homoerotic mutation transforming leg to antenna in Drosophila. Nature 292: 635-638 Go to original source...

    This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original publication is properly cited. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.


    Return to the content