Leptoconops nosopheris sp. n. (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) and Paleotrypanosoma burmanicus gen. n., sp. n. (Kinetoplastida: Trypanosomatidae), a biting midge - trypanosome vector association from the Early Cretaceous

Abstract

Leptoconops nosopheris sp. n. (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) is described from a blood-filled female biting midge in Early Cretaceous Burmese amber. The new species is characterized by a very elongate terminal flagellomere, elongate cerci, and an indistinct spur on the metatibia. This biting midge contained digenetic trypanosomes (Kinetoplastida: Trypanosomatidae) in its alimentary tract and salivary glands. These trypanosomes are described as Paleotrypanosoma burmanicus gen. n., sp. n., which represents the first fossil record of a Trypanosoma generic lineage. The fossil record of trypanosomatids is limited to Paleoleishmania proterus Poinar and Poinar (2004) vec- tored by an Early Cretaceous sand fly in Burmese amber and Trypanosoma antiquus Poinar vectored by a triato- mid bug in Tertiary Dominican amber (Poinar 2005). The present study reports a novel association between a new species of biting midge belonging to the genus Lep- toconops (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) and a new species of associated trypanosome in Cretaceous Burmese am- ber. The trypanosomes were located in the gut, salivary glands and salivary secretions of the biting midge. The amber was derived from a mine first excavated in 2001, in the Hukawng Valley, Southwest of Maingkh- wan in the state of Kachin (26º20´N, 96º36´E) in Burma, (Myanmar). This new amber site, known as the Noije Bum 2001 Summit Site, was assigned to the Upper Al- bian of the Early Cretaceous on the basis of paleonto- logical evidence (Cruickshank & Ko 2003), placing the age at 97 to 110 m.y.a. Nuclear magnetic resonance spec- tra and the presence of araucaroid wood fibers in amber samples from the Noije Bum 2001 Summit site indicate an araucarian (possibly Agathis) tree source for the am- ber (Poinar et al. 2007).