First Member of 'Higher Endomychidae' (Coleoptera: Coccinelloidea) from the Mid-Cretaceous Amber of Myanmar and New Insights into the Time of Origin of the Handsome Fungus Beetles.

A new genus and species of the family Endomychidae (Coleoptera: Coccinelloidea): Tomaszewska, Szawaryn and Arriaga-Varela are described, diagnosed and illustrated from the mid-Cretaceous amber from northern Myanmar. To test the systematic placement of the new extinct genus and species within the family, a phylogenetic analysis was conducted. A dataset of 38 morphological characters scored for 29 species (including the new fossil taxon), members of Endomychidae and representatives of Coccinelloidea as outgroups were analyzed using maximum parsimony. The results of the analysis indicate unequivocally that is a member of the clade within a monophyletic 'endomychine complex' Robertson et al. (2015), which corresponds to 'Higher Endomychidae' Tomaszewska (2005). The present discovery confirms at least the Jurassic origin of Coccinelloidea and indicates a much older origin of Endomychidae than previously hypothesized.