Ancient insect found in amber reveals surprising new species

Scientists decided to examine a fragment of amber with an insect trapped inside. Although the amber was found in the 1960s, it is only now that it has been established that it contains a previously unknown insect species!

The amber examined by Polish entomologists was one of the 70,000 exhibits in the Danish Natural History Museum's collections. The small piece of amber garnered significant interest from researchers, and for good reason: it contains a small insect from 40 million years ago, a period when temperatures in Europe were much higher. As the portal sciencesetavenir.fr reminds us, at that time, conditions around the North Sea were quasi-tropical, with a hot, humid climate that favored the spread of flies, mosquitoes, and midges.

Scientists polished the stone to facilitate the study of the insect embedded in the amber, making it more transparent. During their efforts, it was confirmed that the piece analyzed comes from Baltic amber deposits. They decided to identify the species to which the hymenopteran trapped in the amber belongs.

To do this, they focused on the genitalia of the Hymenoptera. Lars Vilhelmsen, one of the study's authors published in the journal Scientific Reports, explains that the male has appendages or claws next to the genitalia, which he uses to grasp the female during mating. The researchers used the shape of these claws to identify it.

According to the results, the hymenopteran trapped in the amber is a new species named Robsonomyia henningseni. Insects of the genus Robsonomyia are currently found only in Hokkaido, Japan, and California. This was an intriguing discovery, especially considering the distance between these two areas.

For scientists, discovering an ancient member of this group in Europe suggests that they may have traveled from one area to another in stages, and Northern Europe was one of them.