Palaeontology, biogeography and evolution of New Zealand insects
Ecology and Biodiversity of Animals and Ecosystems, Organismic Interactions
Final Report Abstract
New Zealand has a unique insect fauna that displays unusual ecological interactions, notable functional gaps, high levels of flightlessness and endemism and an exceptionally diverse litter and soil fauna. The fauna is also characterized by a disharmonic composition, consisting of relatively young lineages that may reflect geologically recent colonization that co-exist with putatively older and perhaps relictual lineages that may date back to Gondwana. Deciphering the evolutionary history of New Zealand insects has traditionally been hindered by a very limited fossil record. The aim of this project was to describe new insect fossils from lake sediments and amber in New Zealand and to investigate their past diversity. Through comparison of the fossil record with the extant insect fauna, this project was a first step to solving questions regarding the origin of New Zealand insects and to detect potential faunal changes in relation to the complex tectonic, environmental and climatic history of New Zealand. Insect compression fossils were studied from the Foulden Maar (Early Miocene) and Hindon Maar (Middle Miocene) Konservat-Lagerstätten in southern New Zealand. Microscopic screening of amber from 23 localities across New Zealand revealed a diverse array of insect inclusions in Oligocene and Miocene amber and the first insects inclusions preserved in Eocene amber from two different sites. Inclusions were exclusively found in layered amber pieces formed by successive resin flows, which require elaborate and time-consuming preparation of individual specimens. Insect taxa from 11 families in the orders Hemiptera, Megaloptera, Coleoptera, Diptera and Hymenoptera were described and published within this project. Among the Hemiptera, a lace bug (Tingidae) from Foulden Maar resembles the extant New Zealand genus Tanybyrsa, possibly indicating a long association of this genus with native Astelia in New Zealand. A new genus and species of whiteflies (Aleyrodidae) and an unidentified psyllid (Psyllidae) from Hindon Maar are the first fossils of these groups in New Zealand. The first Megaloptera fossil from New Zealand, from Foulden Maar, is likely an alderfly larva (Sialidae), a family absent from the extant fauna. Among beetles (Coleoptera), a new species of rove beetle (Staphylinidae) from Foulden Maar is the first fossil record of the tribe Amblyopinini from the Southern Hemisphere and may indicate a vicariance (Gondwana) history of New Zealand amblyopinines. A new species of the marsh beetle Contacyphon (Scyrtidae) from Oligocene amber likely indicates a long, isolated evolution, as the 50 extant New Zealand species are all endemic. Flies (Diptera) include new species of dance flies (Empididae), crane flies (Limoniidae), fungus gnats (Mycetophilidae) and non-biting midges (Chironomidae) from Foulden Maar and amber, mostly of genera well diversified in the extant fauna. Immature aquatic midges were diverse and ecologically important at Foulden Maar. Phantom midges (Chaoboridae) from Foulden document the post-Miocene extinction of this otherwise widely distributed and highly adaptable group in New Zealand. Among the Hymenoptera, a new species of plaster bees (Colletidae) from Hindon Maar is placed into a new subgenus, unrelated to extant New Zealand subgenera and likely indicating post-Miocene re-colonization.
Publications
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A Review of Galaxias (Galaxiidae) Fossils from the Southern Hemisphere. Diversity, 12(5), 208.
Kaulfuss, Uwe; Lee, Daphne E.; Robinson, Jeffrey H.; Wallis, Graham P. & Schwarzhans, Werner W.
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An amblyopinine rove beetle (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Staphylininae, Amblyopinini) from the earliest Miocene Foulden Maar fossil-Lagerstätte, New Zealand. Journal of Paleontology, 94(6), 1082-1088.
Jenkins Shaw, Josh; Solodovnikov, Alexey; Bai, Ming & Kaulfuss, Uwe
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Fossil Treasures of Foulden Maar: A window into Miocene Zealandia. Otago University Press, 216 pp.
Lee, D.E., Kaulfuss, U. & Conran, J.G.
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Summary of the fossil record of megalopteran and megalopteran-like larvae, with a report of new specimens. Bulletin of Geosciences, 89-108.
Baranov, V.; Haug, C.; Fowler, M.; Kaulfuss, U.; Müller, P. & Haug, J.T.
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Chaenothecopsis (Mycocaliciales, Ascomycota) from exudates of endemic New Zealand Podocarpaceae. MycoKeys, 95, 101-129.
Beimforde, Christina; Schmidt, Alexander R.; Tuovila, Hanna; Kaulfuss, Uwe; Germer, Juliane; Lee, William G. & Rikkinen, Jouko
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New Zealand amber: Age, depositional setting and bioinclusions. In: Szwedo, J., Bojarski, B., Cierocka, K., Sontag, E. (Eds) Fossil Record in Resins and Sediments. Book of Abstracts, FossilRRS Conference 23–26 May 2023, University of Gdansk, p. 55
Kaulfuss, U., Schmidt, A.R. & Lee, D.E.
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Review of flowers and inflorescences with in situ pollen from the Miocene Foulden and Hindon Konservat-Lagerstätten, southern New Zealand. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 311, 104830.
Kaulfuss, Uwe; Bannister, Jennifer M.; Conran, John G.; Kennedy, Elizabeth M.; Mildenhall, Dallas C. & Lee, Daphne E.
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The first fossil lace bug (Heteroptera: Tingidae) from New Zealand. Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology, 47(1), 117-121.
Kaulfuss, Uwe & Heiss, Ernst
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A crane fly of the genus Gynoplistia Macquart (Diptera, Limoniidae) from the early Miocene of New Zealand. ZooKeys, 1192, 103-110.
Nel, André & Kaulfuss, Uwe
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A dance fly (Empididae: Hilarempis Bezzi) from the Foulden Maar Fossil-Lagerstätte (Early Miocene, New Zealand). Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments, 104(4), 1027-1032.
Kaulfuss, Uwe & Sinclair, Bradley J.
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Deep-time maar lakes and other volcanogenic lakes as Fossil-Lagerstätten – An overview. Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments, 104(4), 763-848.
Uhl, Dieter; Wuttke, Michael; Aiglstorfer, Manuela; Gee, Carole T.; Grandi, Federica; Höltke, Olaf; Kaiser, Thomas M.; Kaulfuss, Uwe; Lee, Daphne; Lehmann, Thomas; Oms, Oriol; Poschmann, Markus J.; Rasser, Michael W.; Schindler, Thomas; Smith, Krister T.; Suhr, Peter; Wappler, Torsten & Wedmann, Sonja
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First Miocene whiteflies and psyllids (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha: Aleyrodoidea and Psylloidea) from Aotearoa New Zealand. Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments, 104(4), 1033-1041.
Drohojowska, Jowita; Evans, Gregory A.; Kaulfuss, Uwe; Lee, Daphne E. & Szwedo, Jacek
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Fossil arthropods from Zealandia reveal a complex ecological and biogeographic history. In: Nelson, F., Jack, H., Chanony, S. (Eds) Geoscience Society of New Zealand Annual Conference 2024: Abstract Volume. GSNZ Miscellaneous Publication 167A, Geoscience Society of New Zealand, Wellington, 279 pp.
Lee, D.E. & Kaulfuss, U.
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New records of immature aquatic Diptera from the Foulden Maar Fossil-Lagerstätte, New Zealand, and their biogeographic implications. PeerJ, 12, e17014.
Baranov, Viktor O.; Haug, Joachim T. & Kaulfuss, Uwe
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The first beetle species described from Oligocene New Zealand amber (Coleoptera: Scirtidae). Palaeoentomology, 7(4), 529-538.
KAULFUSS, UWE; SZAWARYN, KAROL; LEE, DAPHNE & RUTA, RAFAŁ
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A bee from the middle Miocene Hindon Maar of southern New Zealand (Hymenoptera, Colletidae). Zoosystema, 47(3).
Engel, Michael S. & Kaulfuss, Uwe
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Extending the fossil record of late Oligocene non-biting midges (Chironomidae, Diptera) of New Zealand. PeerJ, 13, e18893.
Baranov, Viktor O.; Hammel, Jörg U.; Lee, Daphne E.; Schmidt, Alexander R. & Kaulfuss, Uwe
