Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand abstracts

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Fossil scale insects (Hemiptera, Coccoidea, Diaspididae) in life position on an angiosperm leaf from an Early Miocene lake deposit, Otago, New Zealand

Anthony C. Harris¹, Jennifer M. Bannister², and Daphne E. Lee^*3

¹Otago Museum, PO Box 6202, Dunedin 9059, New Zealand.

²Department of Botany, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand.

³Department of Geology, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand. ^*Author for correspondence.

Abstract   The first fossil scale insects to be described from New Zealand are 14 well-preserved female scale covers, including nine old, mature, adult females, attached to an angiosperm leaf found in Lower Miocene finely laminated lacustrine diatomite at Foulden Hills, Otago. These insects are interpreted as belonging to Family Diaspididae, Subfamily Aspidiotinae, a group that is well-represented in the modern Australasian fauna. Their attachment in situ on a fossil leaf (possibly from the family Elaeocarpaceae) provides an extremely rare example of a 20-million-year-old plant-animal association, and demonstrates that before the Early Miocene Aspidiotinae had a neotenic, wingless female, and its modern form of scale cover, with a fully developed, fibrous, waxy scale cover.

Keywords   fossil insects; Hemiptera; Coccoidea; Miocene; New Zealand; palaeoentomology; diatomite; angiosperm leaf

 R06009 Received 28 June 2006; accepted 2 November 2006;
Online publication date 11 December 2006

Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand
Volume 37, Number 1, March, 2007, pp 1–13

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