Six new species of fossil soldier beetles (Coleoptera: Cantharidae) from Eocene Baltic amber

Abstract

We describe and illustrate six new species of the family Cantharidae from Baltic amber: Sucinorhagonycha maryae sp. nov. (Cantharinae, Cacomorphocerini), Podistra madelineae sp. nov. (Cantharinae, Cantharini), Malthinus (Malthinus) karenpankowskiae sp. nov. (Malthininae, Malthinini), Malthinus (Malthinus) pauljohnsoni sp. nov. (Malthininae, Malthinini), Malthodes (Libertimalthodes) betseyae sp. nov. (Malthininae, Malthodini) and Malthodes (Malthodes) greenwalti sp. nov. (Malthininae, Malthodini). These new taxa add to the astonishing palaeodiversity documented in Baltic amber, demonstrating the wide range of organisms thriving in European forests and wooded areas during the Eocene. Extant species of Malthodes, Malthinus and Podistra also provide important clues to how these extinct taxa lived, fed and reproduced some 35–40 million years ago.