Possible Fossil Larvae of Staphylinidae from Kachin Amber and a Quantitative Morphological Comparison Indicate That Rove Beetle Larvae Partly Replaced Lacewing Larvae.

ABSTRACT: The highly diverse group of rove beetles, Staphylinidae, displays a great morphological variety across both adult and larval stages. However, due to the often cryptic habitats of their larvae, comprehensive descriptions of larval morphologies across extant ingroups remain incomplete. Also, the fossil record of rove beetle larvae appears to be sparse to date. We report here 35 newly identified fossil larvae of Staphylinidae from eight pieces of Myanmar Kachin amber, dating to the Cretaceous. Notably, one amber piece preserves three larval syninclusions, while another contains nine adults alongside twenty-six larvae, providing rare evidence of larval-adult co-occurrence in ancient environments. Given the predominantly predatory life cycle of extant rove beetles, the morphological similaritie

SUBMITTER: Haug JT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12470659 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature