Insects from the Lower Toarcian of Middle Europe and England

Abstract

Lower Toarcian insect localities of Middle Europe and England are reviewed. The insects come from carbonate concretions (jalciferum zone) which are intercalated in Northern Gerrnany within the marine clay ofthe Green Series and elsewhere in the Po­ sidonia Shale. Beside one spider and one scorpion, insects of 21 orders were recognized. The species composition ofthe different insect taphocoenoses is very similar, differences exist only in the composition of the Fulgoromorpha (Homoptera : Auchenorrhyncha), which may indicate a kind ofprovincialism. Palaeobiogeograp hical, palaeoecological and taphonomical problems are discussed. Apart from a number of taphonomical filters, the distance to the shore line is the most delimiting factor for the composition of marine ta­ phocoenoses. A faunal exchange between Laurasia and Gondwana was possible in the Lower Jurassic.