Miocene pinhole borer ambrosia beetles: new species of Diapus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Platypodinae)

New fossil species of the genus Diapus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Platypodinae) are described in Miocene amber from Ethiopia and Zhangpu, China, based on male and female specimens. We report 24 male and 6 female specimens in Zhangpu amber and one male from Ethiopian amber. However, the number of specimens in Ethiopian amber will probably increase when more material is available for study. The large amount of Diapus specimens supports the paleoenvironmental reconstruction of the Zhangpu amber forest as a megathermal seasonal rainforest. The new species highlight that Platypodinae diversification likely associated with angiosperms may have started in the Cretaceous with an increase of diversity in the Miocene. The specimens described here are the first record of Diapus pre-served in amber.(c) 2021 Elsevier B.V. and Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, CAS. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

New fossil species of the genus Diapus are described in Miocene amber from Ethiopia and Zhangpu, China. The large number of Diapus specimens found in Zhangpu amber supports the paleoenvironmental reconstruction of a megathermal seasonal rainforest. The discovery of these new species suggests that the diversification of the Platypodinae genus Diapus, potentially associated with angiosperms, may have started in the Cretaceous and increased in diversity during the Miocene. These specimens represent the first record of Diapus preserved in amber.