An unusual artematopodid beetle from Early Cretaceous Wealden amber (Coleoptera: Elateroidea: Artematopodidae)

Abstract

Early Cretaceous Wealden amber of the Isle of Wight (early Barremian, ~125 Ma) represents one of the oldest known fossiliferous ambers. Here we describe the first fossil beetle from the deposit, and first British coleopteran amber inclusion, the artematopodid Valdopogon simpsoni gen. et sp. nov. Despite its fragmentary nature, the fossil possesses a puzzling combination of characters unseen in modern Artematopodidae, namely equally long abdominal ventrites I and II, concave sutures between ventrites I–V, and absence of elytral striation. Valdopogon contributes to our understanding of the morphological evolution of this once diverse group of elateroid beetles.