Sayrevilleinae Legalov, a newly recognised subfamily of fossil weevils (Coleoptera, Curculionoidea, Attelabidae) and the use of synchrotron microtomography to examine inclusions in amber

Two genera of extinct weevils, Sayrevilleus Gratshev & Zherikhin from Cretaceous New Jersey amber and Baltocar Kuschel from Eocene Baltic amber, are recognized as close relatives based on similarities revealed by the use of synchrotron tomography and the availability of new amber inclusions. The subfamily Sayrevilleinae Legalov stat. nov. is characterized by possessing mandibles with an external cutting edge and an inner blunt edge. The subfamily is placed in the family Attelabidae (s.l.), although some characters also suggest a possible relationship with the ‘higher weevils’ comprising Caridae, Brentidae, and Curculionidae. Sayrevilleus is transferred from the tribe Auletini of Rhynchitinae to Sayrevilleinae, and Sayrevilleus grimaldii Gratshev & Zherikhin is redescribed. Baltocar Kuschel is transferred from Caridae to Sayrevilleinae and revised, its type species, Baltocar succinicus (Voss), is redescribed and three new species, Baltocar groehni Riedel sp. nov., Baltocar hoffeinsorum Riedel sp. nov., and Baltocar subnudus Riedel sp. nov. are described based on eight well-preserved inclusions. The genera Orapauletes Legalov and Zherichiniletes Legalov previously assigned to Sayrevilleini are regarded as Curculionoidea incertae sedis. The Sayrevilleinae were distributed over areas of North America and Europe at least since the Late Cretaceous (c. 90 Mya) and were probably relatively diverse until the Eocene (c. 44 Mya). It is speculated that they became extinct through competition with Curculionidae, which used a similar oviposition strategy. © 2012 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2012, 165, 773–794.

[1]  R. Harris,et al.  A glossary of surface sculpturing. , 1979 .

[2]  C. Müller,et al.  Lithology and calcareous nannoplankton in amberbearing Tertiary sediments from boreholes Chłapowo (Northern Poland) , 1985 .

[3]  Christopher H. C. Lyal,et al.  A world catalogue of families and genera of Curculionoidea (Insecta: Coleoptera) (excepting Scolytidae and Platypodidae). , 1999 .

[4]  T. Weitkamp,et al.  ANKAphase: software for single-distance phase retrieval from inline X-ray phase-contrast radiographs. , 2011, Journal of synchrotron radiation.

[5]  G. Kuschel.  Nemonychidae, Belidae, Brentidae (Insecta: Coleoptera: Curculionoidea) , 2003 .

[6]  D. McKenna,et al.  Temporal lags and overlap in the diversification of weevils and flowering plants , 2009, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[7]  H. Hoffeins.  On the preparation and conservation of amber inclusions in artificial resin , 2001 .

[8]  W. Weitschat,et al.  Atlas of Plants and Animals in Baltic Amber , 2003 .

[9]  Brian D. Farrell,et al.  "Inordinate Fondness" explained: why are there So many beetles? , 1998, Science.

[10]  John R Helliwell,et al.  Diffraction structural biology--introductory overview. , 2011, Journal of synchrotron radiation.

[11]  A. Legalov,et al.  Checklist of Mesozoic Curculionoidea (Coleoptera) with description of new taxa , 2010 .

[12]  Paul Tafforeau,et al.  Virtual dissection using phase‐contrast X‐ray synchrotron microtomography: reducing the gap between fossils and extant species , 2011 .

[13]  J. Morrone,et al.  Phylogenetic systematics of weevils (Coleoptera: Curculionoidea): A reappraisal based on larval and adult morphology , 2000 .

[14]  P. Cloetens,et al.  Imaging applications of synchrotron X‐ray phase‐contrast microtomography in biological morphology and biomaterials science. I. General aspects of the technique and its advantages in the analysis of millimetre‐sized arthropod structure , 2007, Journal of microscopy.

[15]  V. Zherikhin,et al.  The Early Cretaceous weevils from Sierra del Montsec, Spain (Insecta: Coleoptera: Curculionoidea) , 1997 .

[16]  K. Kjer,et al.  Structural alignment of 18S and 28S rDNA sequences provides insights into phylogeny of Phytophaga (Coleoptera: Curculionoidea and Chrysomeloidea) , 2009 .

[17]  G. Kusche.  Past and present of the relict family nemonychidae (Coleoptera, Curculionoidea) , 1983 .

[18]  Yves Bousquet,et al.  Family-group names in Coleoptera (Insecta) , 2011, ZooKeys.

[19]  Robert S. Anderson,et al.  Weevils, weevils, weevils everywhere* , 2007 .

[20]  Peter Cloetens,et al.  Phase Contrast X-Ray Synchrotron Imaging: Opening Access to Fossil Inclusions in Opaque Amber , 2008, Microscopy and Microanalysis.

[21]  A. Legalov.  New data of the leaf-rolling weevils (Coleoptera: Rhynchitidae, Attelabidae) of the world fauna with description of 35 new taxa. , 2004 .

[22]  R. Anderson.  An Evolutionary Perspective on Diversity in Curculionoidea. , 1995 .

[23]  A. Legalov.  CONTRIBUTION TO THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE MESOZOIC CURCULIONOIDEA (COLEOPTERA) , 2009, Amurian Zoological Journal.

[24]  Philip J. Withers,et al.  Computed tomography recovers data from historical amber: an example from huntsman spiders , 2011, Naturwissenschaften.

[25]  R. Oberprieler,et al.  Cretaceous weevils from southern Africa, with description of a new genus and species and phylogenetic and zoogeographical comments (Coleoptera: Curculionoidea) , 1994 .

[26]  Brian D. Farrell,et al.  Molecular and morphological phylogenetics of weevils (coleoptera, curculionoidea): do niche shifts accompany diversification? , 2002, Systematic biology.