First Member of ‘Higher Endomychidae’ (Coleoptera: Coccinelloidea) from the Mid-Cretaceous Amber of Myanmar and New Insights into the Time of Origin of the Handsome Fungus Beetles

Abstract

A new genus and species of the family Endomychidae (Coleoptera: Coccinelloidea): <i>Cretostenotarsus striatus</i> Tomaszewska, Szawaryn and Arriaga-Varela <b>gen. et sp. nov.</b> are described, diagnosed and illustrated from the mid-Cretaceous amber from northern Myanmar. To test the systematic placement of the new extinct genus and species within the family, a phylogenetic analysis was conducted. A dataset of 38 morphological characters scored for 29 species (including the new fossil taxon), members of Endomychidae <i>sensu stricto</i> and representatives of Coccinelloidea as outgroups were analyzed using maximum parsimony. The results of the analysis indicate unequivocally that <i>Cretostenotarsus striatus</i> is a member of the <i>Stenotarsus</i> clade within a monophyletic 'endomychine complex' <i>sensu</i> Robertson et al. (2015), which corresponds to 'Higher Endomychidae' <i>sensu</i> Tomaszewska (2005). The present discovery confirms at least the Jurassic origin of Coccinelloidea and indicates a much older origin of Endomychidae than previously hypothesized.