Arthropods in Contemporary and Some Fossil Resins
V. V. Zherikhin†, I. D. Sukacheva, and A. P. Rasnitsyn
Borissiak Paleontological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Profsoyuznaya ul. 123, Moscow, 117997 Russia
e-mail: lab@palaeoentomolog.ru
Received September 10, 2007
Abstract—More than 4800 arthropod inclusions were isolated and identified from resin of various contempo-
rary conifer trees in various parts of northern Eurasia. Their composition is compared with that in representative
collections of Baltic and Rovno ambers (Upper Eocene) and with that in Dominican amber (Lower Miocene).
The original composition of inclusions of Dominican amber is reconstructed for the first time using a procedure
intended to reduce the effect of human bias. Taphonomical characteristics of resins and their effects on the com-
position of inclusions are studied. The actuapaleontological approach reveals a trend towards a decrease in the
relative abundance of arboreal springtails and nematoceran dipterans and an increase in that of the true bugs,
beetles, lepidopterans, and hymenopterans (especially ants) between the Eocene and the present. Relative abun-
dances of spiders and mites show no clear trend. The available data on other arthropods are still insufficient for
elucidating evolutionary trends. Surprisingly, a small contemporary sample from Taimyr (N. Siberia) was inex-
plicably more similar to the Eocene amber than to other contemporary resins. No other significant differences
in composition of inclusions, compared across different conifer genera or geographic areas, have been revealed.
A more detailed comparison between contemporary and fossil hymenopteran and beetle inclusions reveals cor-
relations with both age (= evolutionary change) and geography. The absolute dominance of ants, particularly
Formicinae and Myrmicinae, and, among solitary hymenopterans, Ichneumonidae, Braconidae, and Pteromal-
idae, and a corresponding decline in the abundance of Scelionidae and Dolichoderinae in contemporary resins
compared to amber reflect evolutionary changes. In contrast, the overwhelming abundance of Formicinae and
consistent occurrence of sawflies in contemporary resins of northern Eurasia appear to be explained by geog-
raphy. The Eocene assemblages of beetle inclusions are characterized by a wider and more variable set of dom-
inant families, in sharp contrast to contemporary resins, which are uniformly dominated by Curculionidae,
Chrysomelidae, and Staphylinidae. Additional analyses are needed to explain this difference.
DOI: 10.1134/S0031030109090019
Key words: insects, insect fossils, amber, resin, Eocene, taphonomy, experimental paleontology.
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