Eocene Araucariaceae in Europe: additional evidence from a new Baltic amber species of the genus Oxycraspedus Kuschel, 1955 (Coleoptera: Belidae)

ABSTRACT

A new species of the genus Oxycraspedus Kuschel from the tribe Oxycraspedini (Belidae: Oxycoryninae) is described from late Eocene Baltic amber. Oxycraspedus argetus n. sp. is similar to the extant Oxycraspedus minutus but differs in having the elytral interstriae narrower than the striae, large and dense punctation in the striae, a flattened, non-impressed forehead, more convex body and a rostrum about 1.4 times as long as the pronotum. A new species differs from the Baltic amber Oxycraspedus poinari by having the body covered with white elongate scales, a weak convex body and the first tarsomere without a spine. Extinct weevils of this monophagous in Recent genus indicate the presence of their host plants, belonging to the family Araucariaceae (and probable to the genus Araucaria) in the late Eocene Baltic amber forest.

KEYWORDS:

• Curculionoidea
• Oxycraspedini
• species diversity
• Araucariaceae
• trophic links
• fossil records

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Ch. W. O’Brien (Tallahassee) for the opportunity to study comparative material, and anonymous reviewers for improving the overall quality of the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).