Institute of Biology, Biotechnology and Environmental Protection, University of Silesia, 9, Bankowa St., Katowice, 40-007, Poland.
Laboratory of Evolutionary Entomology and Museum of Amber Inclusions, Department of Invertebrate Zoology and Parasitology, University of Gdańsk, 59, Wita Stwosza St., Gdańsk, 80-308, Poland.
Sci Rep. 2024 Oct 4;14(1):23102. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-74197-8.
The whiteflies (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) are small sternorrhynchan insects, which have the potential to cause significant economic damage to agricultural crops. There is a paucity of knowledge regarding the diversity, disparity, and evolutionary history of these insects, with classification based on the immatures, called puparia. The fossil record of whiteflies is sparse and incomplete, with the majority of fossils representing imaginal forms preserved as inclusions in fossilized resins. In this study, we present the first inclusion in succinite associated with the layers of Lower/Middle Miocene 2 Lusatian Lignite Seam of Wanninchen in Brandenburg, Germany. The objective of the present study is to elaborate this fossil, and as a consequence, a new fossil genus and species, Pudrica christianottoi gen. et sp. nov., is described. This fossil is a representative of the subfamily Aleyrodinae, and it is the third fossil genus of this whitefly subfamily to be described. The discovery of the fossil inclusion in the succinite from the lignite deposits of Lower Lusatia challenges the current understanding of the character and conditions of formation and deposition of central and east European Paleogene fossil resins. Succinite is a fossil resin that occurs in the Eocene deposits of the Gulf of Gdańsk, belonging to the Prussian Formation, containing a glauconite-rich horizon known as the 'Blue Earth'. Similarly, glauconite-rich deposits are present in the Lublin area of Poland, where they are associated with the occurrence of succinite. Additionally, succinite has been found in deposits in the Rovno-Zhitomir area of Ukraine, which are alluvial deposits containing glauconite and lignite layers. Succinite was also identified in Eocene strata of Spitsbergen and in Axel Heiberg Island in the Canadian Arctic. Succinite has also been discovered in early Miocene deposits in Bitterfeld, Germany, where it occurs alongside lignite deposits (the deposit actually encompasses different fossil resins, so potentially originating from different source plants). Furthermore, it has been identified in younger (Pleistocene) deposits across Europe. The autochthonous (parautochthonous) character of the lignite deposits in Lower Lusatia raises questions regarding the time range of the succinite-producing gymnosperm trees and the autochthonous or allochthonous character of the lignite layers associated fossilized resins.
粉虱（半翅目：粉虱科）是小型缨翅目昆虫，它们有可能对农业作物造成重大的经济损失。关于这些昆虫的多样性、差异和进化历史的知识匮乏，分类主要基于幼虫，称为蛹。粉虱的化石记录稀少且不完整，大多数化石代表的是想象形式，保存在化石树脂的包裹体中。在这项研究中，我们首次展示了与德国勃兰登堡万宁申的下/中中新世 2 卢萨蒂亚褐煤层相关的琥珀包裹体。本研究的目的是详细阐述这个化石，因此，一个新的化石属和种，Pudrica christianottoi gen. et sp. nov.，被描述。这个化石是粉虱亚科的一个代表，也是该粉虱亚科的第三个化石属。在卢萨蒂亚褐煤矿床的琥珀包裹体中发现的化石挑战了当前对中欧和东欧古近纪化石树脂的特征、形成和沉积条件的理解。琥珀是一种在加里宁格勒湾始新世沉积物中发现的化石树脂，属于普鲁士组，含有富含海绿石的一个层位，称为“蓝土”。同样，富含海绿石的沉积物也存在于波兰的卢布林地区，那里也有琥珀的存在。此外，琥珀在乌克兰罗夫诺-日托米尔地区的冲积层中也有发现，这些冲积层含有海绿石和褐煤层。琥珀也在斯匹次卑尔根的始新世地层和加拿大北极的阿克塞尔海伯格岛被发现。琥珀也在德国比特费尔德的早中新世沉积物中被发现，那里与褐煤矿床一起存在（该矿床实际上包含不同的化石树脂，因此可能来自不同的源植物）。此外，它也在欧洲较年轻的（更新世）沉积物中被发现。下卢萨蒂亚的褐煤矿床的原地（准原地）特征引发了关于产生琥珀的裸子植物树木的时间范围以及与化石树脂相关的褐煤层的原地或异地特征的问题。
