Description of the first Neriidae (Insecta, Diptera) fossilized from Miocene amber of Simojovel, Chiapas, Mexico

ABSTRACT

The first neriid fossil is described from a well-preserved adult female trapped in amber from the Miocene of Simojovel, Chiapas, south-eastern Mexico. The fossil corresponds to a new genus and species named Palaeonerius souzai Sepúlveda & Gomes gen. et sp. nov. The new taxon is described and compared with other, extant Neotropical neriid genera.

http://www.urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:E61B19F5-5B5C-49B7-BA98-20453981474A

KEYWORDS:

• Chiapas amber
• cactus flies
• Neotropical
• Nerioidea

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Luciane Marinoni for allowing us to use the facilities of the Taxonlab during this study. We also thank Gabriel Melo and André Martins, for helping us with the preparation of the amber piece and images; and Mario Arturo Acero Sandoval, for helping us to find the amber piece. To NAPI-TAXONLINE and the Entomological Collection “Padre de Jesus Santiago Moure” (DZUP) for providing a depository and images. The Conselho Nacional de Pesquisas (CNPq) provided a scholarship and grant [process number 141030/2018-6, LRPG].

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The Conselho Nacional de Pesquisas (CNPq) provided a scholarship and grant (process number 141030/2018-6) for L.R.P.G; Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico [141030/2018-6].