Barklice (Insecta: Psocodea) from Early Cretaceous resiniferous forests of Iberia (Spanish amber): New Troctomorpha and a possible Psocomorpha

Psocids, commonly known as barklice, are insects belonging to the order Psocodea, together with the parasitic lice. They usually inhabit forest litter or the bark of tree trunks and branches, showing grazing herbivorous or detritivorous feeding habits. The Cretaceous psocid record is diverse, contai...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Álvarez-Parra, Sergio, Peñalver Mollá, Enrique, Nel, André, Delclòs Martínez, Xavier
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión aceptada para publicación
Fecha de publicación:2023
País:España
Institución:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
Repositorio:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
OAI Identifier:oai:recercat.cat:2445/218812
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/2445/218812
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Artròpodes fòssils
Ambre
Cretaci
Paleobiogeografia
Fossil arthropoda
Amber
Cretaceous Period
Paleobiogeography
Descripción
Sumario:Psocids, commonly known as barklice, are insects belonging to the order Psocodea, together with the parasitic lice. They usually inhabit forest litter or the bark of tree trunks and branches, showing grazing herbivorous or detritivorous feeding habits. The Cretaceous psocid record is diverse, containing more than 70 described species. Here, we present new psocids (Troctomorpha and possible Psocomorpha) from two Spanish amber outcrops, both Albian (Lower Cretaceous): El Soplao and Ariño. We describe the two new species Azarpsocus anjana Álvarez-Parra and Nel sp. nov. (Manicapsocidae) and Burmacompsocus ojancano Álvarez-Parra and Nel sp. nov. (Compsocidae), and the morphotype Ariño that might belong to Psocomorpha. We discuss the taxonomic placement of the studied specimens and comment on the palaeobiogeography of the Cretaceous psocids. The Cretaceous barklice fauna from Iberia shows more similarities with that from Lebanese (Barremian) and Burmese (Cenomanian) ambers than with that from the palaeogeographically closer French amber (Cenomanian). This finding has been also reported in other insect groups from Spanish amber, and might be the consequence of several factors, such as the palaeoenvironmental conditions of the ecosystems, the palaeogeographical position of the Iberia Island during the latest Jurassic, closer to Gondwana than to Laurasia, and oceanic currents that facilitated or hindered the displacement of insect fauna between continental masses.