First pyraloid (Insecta, Lepidoptera) caterpillar from Dominican amber

By

Solis, M Alma
Léger, Théo 1989-
Neumann, Christian

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2023-10-24

Original Publication

Subterranean Biology

Volume

46

Pages

145--154

Subjects

Crambidae , Dominican amber , extant taxa , Larvae , Spilomelinae

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/nl.46.108745

 

Abstract

Only three fossils in the Pyraloidea (Insecta, Lepidoptera) have been confirmed to date, two adults and one larva. The first confirmed larva, in the subfamily Pyraustinae (Crambidae), was described from Baltic amber. Recently, another pyraloid larva from Dominican amber has come to our attention. We describe this second confirmed larval fossil as Penestola wichardi Solis, Léger & Neumann, sp. nov., based on larval morphological characters, such as setal patterns and the shape of their sclerotized bases or pinacula, and place it in the subfamily Spilomelinae (Crambidae).