Phase contrast X-ray synchrotron microtomography and the oldest damselflies in amber (Odonata: Zygoptera: Hemiphlebiidae)

Electrohemiphlebia barucheli gen. et sp. nov. and Jordanhemiphlebia electronica gen. et sp. nov., two new genera and species are described, based on exceptional inclusions of hemiphlebiid damselflies in Cretaceous amber from France and Jordan. The type specimen of E. barucheli was studied using phase contrast X-ray synchrotron microtomography, giving exceptional images and detailed information. Its comparison with the recent Hemiphlebia mirabilis confirms the attribution of several Cretaceous damselflies to the Hemiphlebiidae, showing that this particular group was widespread in the Early Cretaceous and probably originated in the Late Jurassic or earlier. The ecological niches today occupied by the small coenagrionoid damselflies were occupied during the Triassic and Jurassic by Protozygoptera, hemiphlebiids during the Early Cretaceous, and modern taxa in the Cenozoic. (C) 2009 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2009, 156, 913-923.