Phimophorus chiodii sp. nov., first representative of a cryptic assassin bug subfamily from Dominican amber (Reduviidae: Phimophorinae) as revealed with traditional light microscopy and computed micro-tomographic reconstruction

Abstract

The second fossil assassin bug of the cryptic subfamily Phimophorinae is described and figured from the mid-Miocene amber of the Dominican Republic, on the basis of traditional optical observations and a computed micro-tomography 3D reconstruction. The fossil can be attributed to the extant, monotypic genus Phimophorus Bergroth, which is currently known only from northern South America. The fossil extends the distribution of the lineage into the Caribbean of the Early Neogene and places it among a series of examples of arthropod groups that once thrived in Hispaniola but are today not native to the islands.