A new biting midge of the genus Forcipomyia Meigen, 1818 from Miocene Ethiopian amber (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae)

Biting midges (Ceratopogonidae) are a relatively well-studied family of nematocerous flies distributed worldwide, including 6,206 extant and 296 fossil species. To date, 1,146 extant and 32 fossil species in the genus Forcipomyia have been recorded in the world (Borkent & Dominiak, 2020). Biting midges of the subgenus Forcipomyia s. str. are indicative of forests because their larvae and pupae usually live under the bark of rotting trees (Szadziewski, 2018). The oldest records of the genus are from the Eocene. Forcipomyia are reported from early Eocene Fushun amber (one species; Hong, 1981; Stebner et al., 2016; Szadziewski, 2018; Krzemiński et al., 2019), early Eocene Cambay amber (unnamed, Stebner et al., 2017), middle Eocene Sakhalin amber (one species, Szadziewski & Sontag, 2013), Eocene Baltic amber from the Gulf of Gdańsk, Rovno and Bitterfeld (21 species; Szadziewski, 1988, Szadziewski, 1993, Sontag & Szadziewski, 2011), Miocene Dominican amber (10 species, Szadziewski & Grogan, 1998) and Miocene Mexican amber (unnamed, Szadziewski & Grogan, 1996).

New psychodid flies from the Upper Cretaceous Yantardakh amber and Eocene Sakhalin amber (Diptera: Psychodidae: Psychodinae)

Four new psychodid flies, Yantarpsychodus szadziewskii gen. et sp. nov., Sakhalinopsychoda krzeminskii gen. et sp. nov., Sakhalinopericoma russiaensis gen. et sp. nov., and Tonnoira sakhalinensis sp. nov. are characterised, illustrated and described from the Late Cretaceous Santonian Yantardakh amber and the Paleogene mid-Eocene Sakhalin amber. These newly described taxa are the first studied representatives of the Psychodidae from Yantardakh and Sakhalin fossil resins.

Diversity of Eocene Ripiphoridae with descriptions of the first species of Pelecotominae and larva of Ripidiinae (Coleoptera)

The Eocene records of the beetle family Ripiphoridae are evaluated and summarized. A new species of Pelecotominae belonging to the genus Clinops, C. svachaisp. nov. from Baltic amber, is described and figured. The female holotype of C. svachai is the first Palaeogene member of this subfamily to be identified. In addition, a male of a different unidentified genus of Pelecotominae, preserved as an inclusion in Baltic amber, is documented. The first Palaeogene primary larva of Ripiphoridae is described from Sakhalin amber and is compared with all other primary larvae of this family. The larva is attributed to Ripidius (Ripidiinae) and bears some unique characters absent in larvae of this extant genus. A putative record of Ripiphorus (Ripiphorinae) in the Berendt collection is identified as a member of Ripidius. Distribution of Eocene species are compared with those of their closest extant relatives and mapped. Based on the fossil record and the distribution of extant South African species of Clinops, this genus is tentatively thought to be an example of an Eocene relict, while the extant pelecotomine genus Scotoscopus from the East Mediterranean is considered to be an Oligocene–Miocene relict as its distribution corresponds with the geological history of the Aegais landmass.

Orthoclads from Eocene Amber from Sakhalin (Diptera: Chironomidae, Orthocladiinae)

Four Middle Eocene orthoclad species, Heterotrissocladius naibuchisp. n., Paraphaenocladius nadezhdaesp. n., Pseudosmittia kodrulaesp. n. and Smittia sukachevaesp. n.. are described and figured. Based on the combination of the diptera fauna composition and paleobotanical data, suggestions on the climate and habitats of the Sakhalin amber forest are given.

Orthoclads from Eocene Amber from Sakhalin (Diptera: Chironomidae, Orthocladiinae)

Four Middle Eocene orthoclad species,Heterotrissocladius naibuchisp. n.,Paraphaenocladius nadezhdaesp. n.,Pseudosmittia kodrulaesp. n. andSmittia sukachevaesp. n.. are described and figured. Based on the combination of the diptera fauna composition and paleobotanical data, suggestions on the climate and habitats of the Sakhalin amber forest are given.

A new species of Forcipomyia from Paleocene Sakhalin amber (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae)

Forcipomyia nadicola sp. n. from Paleocene Sakhalin amber (60 mya) is described and illustrated. This is the oldest named fossil species reported in the extant genus Forcipomyia and the tribe Forcipomyiini.