Valid Names Results

Wathondara kotejai Simon, Szwedo and Xia, 2015 (Ortheziidae: Wathondara)

Nomenclatural History

• Wathondara kotejai Simon, Szwedo and Xia 2015. Type data: MYANMAR: mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber from Kachin Province, dated biostratigraphically from late Albian to Cenomanian (about 105 to 95 million years old), based on an ammonite and palynology. Holotype, female, by original designation Type depository: Shanghai: Lingpoge Amber Museum, Shanghai, China; accepted valid name Notes: The amber piece preserves an adult female with eggs, six first-instar nymphs, and a weevil. It is polished in the form of a flattened ellipsoid cabochon, clear and transparent, with diameter about 11 mm, height about 5 mm, and weight about 0.8 g. Illustr.

Common Names

Ecological Associates

Geographic Distribution

Keys

Remarks

• Systematics: Wathondara kotejai is unambiguously referable to Ortheziidae, as evidenced by its general habitus with its body covered with wax plates, ensign-like ovisac, stalked eyes, and well-developed legs.Furthermore, W. kotejai shares two potential synapomorphies with Recent and Tertiary, crown-group Ortheziidae: differentiated apical and subapical setae on the last antennal segment, and trochanter and femur fused. (Wang, et al., 2015)
• Structure: Body elongate oval, dorsoventrally flattened (seems to be natural condition). Antennae 8-segmented; first segment straight, elongate, thicker than others, trapezoid in shape; second segment cylindrical distinctly longer than others; antennal segments III–VIII with numerous setae of hair-like and fleshy types, some of them almost as long as apical setae on segment VIII. Apical segment cylindrical with long and stout apical seta and additional shorter subapical seta situated on subapical projection. Legs slender; trochanter fused with femur; tibia and tarsus fused, with numerous spine-like setae. Tarsal claw without denticles; claw digitules hair-like, thin, and short. (Wang, et al., 2015)
• Biology: W. kotejai is unique in providing evidence of ovarian and juvenile developmental stages in a fossil insect. More remarkably, it represents the earliest direct evidence of brood care in insects and highlights the long-term stasis of this behavior in archaeococcoids, extending nearly 100 million years. provides the earliest unequivocal evidence of brood care in insects. (Wang, et al., 2015)
• General Remarks: Detailed description, photographs and illustration in Wang, et al., 2015.

Illustrations

Citations