Africaterphis stefanfoordi: A new species of Small-headed fly from Botswana and South Africa.

The Acroceridae are a small group of unusual-looking Flies with a hump-backed appearance and very small heads, known as Small-headed Flies, or sometimes Humpbacked Flies, or, because they are parasitoids whose larvae develop inside the bodies of Spiders, Spider Flies. There are over 430 known species of Small-headed Flies, divided into eight subfamilies. Sixty five species of Small-headed Flies have been recorded from Africa to date, representing all eight subfamilies.

In a paper published in the journal African Invertebrates on 28 February 2025, John Midgley of the Department of Natural Sciences at the KwaZulu-Natal Museum, and the Department of Zoology and Entomology at Rhodes University, and Genevieve Theron of Biosystematics: Entomology, Plant Health and Protection at the South African Agricultural Research Council, present a review of the African Small-headed Fly genus Africaterphis, with the description of a new species.

Two species of Africaterphis have been described to date, Africaterphis acroceroides, which is found in woodland and forests in areas of Southern Africa with a summer rainy season, from the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in the north, to Eswatini in the south, and Africaterphis gertschi, which is found in the cooler temperate regions of Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces, where it is found in Fynbos and Thicket vegetation.

The new species was identified in a survey of museum specimens, with two female specimens assigned to the species, one from Serowe in Central District, Botswana, and one from Kaapmuiden in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa. This new species is named Africaterphis stefanfoordi, in honour of the late Stefan Foord, for his 'contribution to Entomology, Arachnology and Zoology in South Africa, Africa and the World'

Africaterphis stefanfoordi, female specimen. Scale bar is1 mm. Midgley & Theron (2025).

The two known specimens of Africaterphis stefanfoordi are 7.6 and 8.8 mm long, with forewing lengths of 6.1 and 6.8 mm. The head is black, and largely covered by the eyes, which meet above the antennae, which are small and brown. The thorax is rough and covered by short brown fur, The abdomen and legs are largely yellow with brown markings, the wings are almost totally white, with some brown pigmentation at the base.

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Chyliza colenutti: A new species of Chylizine Rust Fly from the Eocene of the Isle of Wight.

Rust Flies, Psilidae, are small-to-medium sized Dipteran ('True') Flies with elongate bodies and rounded heads, found largely in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Their larvae are parasitic on Plants, and some species, such as the Carrot Fly, Chamaepsila rosae, are considered to be significant agricultural pests. The Family Psilidae is divided into three subfamilies, the Chylizinae and Psilinae, which are considered to be sister groups, and the Belobackenbardiinae, which forms a sister to the other two groups combined. The oldest known fossil Rust Fly is Electrochyliza succini from Baltic Amber, which is probably Late Eocene in age. Electrochyliza succini is not placed within any extant subfamily, being considered to be a sister taxon to Chylizinae and Psilinae closer than Belobackenbardiinae, which suggests it appeared after the ancestor of these groups split from the Belobackenbardiinae, but before they had themselves diverged. 

In a paper published in the journal Insect Systematics and Diversity on 13 November 2024, Andrew Ross of the Department of Natural Sciences at National Museums Scotland, Jiale Zhou of the Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution at the Institute of Zoology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Department of Entomology at the China Agricultural University, Christel Hoffeins of Hamburg in Germany, and Bill Crighton, also of the Department of Natural Sciences at National Museums Scotland, describe a new species of Chylizine Rust Fly from the Late Eocene Insect Limestone Bed of the Bembridge Marls of the Isle of Wight, England.

The Insect Limestone is a single bed of fine-grained micrite found within the Bembridge Marls member of the Bouldnor Formation on the Isle of Wight. This bed is noted for the production of exquisitely preserved Insects, which often show three-dimensional preservation, for which reason it is sometimes known as 'opaque amber'. This bed has been precisely dated to 34.3 million years before the present.

The new species is described upon the basis of a single specimen collected by George William Colenutt, a prominant Isle of Wight solicitor and amateur geologist, and donated to the Oxford University Museum of Natural History in 1931. The species is placed in the genus Chyliza, the sole genus in the subfamily Chylizinae, on the basis of comparison of its wing venation to that of living members of the genus, and named Chyliza colenutti in honour of the collector.

Chyliza colenutti, Holotype; (A) part, OUMNH M.177; (B) counterpart, OUMNH M.175; Insect Limestone, Bembridge Marls, north-west Isle of Wight, UK. Colenutt Collection. Scale bar is 5 mm. Ross et al. (2024).

The specimen is preserved in a split block as part and counterpart, and has a preserved body length of 3.9 mm and a maximum abdomen width of 1 mm. The forewing is 3.6 mm in length and 1.4 mm wide. All of the wings appear coloured towards their tips.

Prior to the description of Chyliza colenutti, the oldest described Chylizine Rust Fly was a Middle Miocene specimen identified as Chyliza sp. from the Middle Miocene Upper Freshwater Molasse of southwestern Germany, which is thought to be between 15 and 12 million years old. 

The dating of Baltic Amber can be problematic, as it ranges from Middle Eocene to Middle Oligocene in age (i.e. is between 48 and 27  million years old), and tends to reach collections via amber dealers, often trading hands several times before coming to the attention of a scientist, with any data on the location and age of the specimens often being lost. However, the majority of Baltic Amber comes from the Upper Blue Earth Member of the Prussian Formation, which has been dated to between 36.5 and 33.5 million years old. 

Electrochyliza succini in Baltic amber. Hoffeins Collection CCHH 1829-10. Scale bar is 1 mm. Ross et al. (2024).

This gives a gap of around 20 million years between Electrochyliza succini and Chyliza sp., which led many palaeoentomologists to conclude that there was a long gap between the divergence of the Belobackenbardiinae from the common ancestor of the Chylizinae and Psilinae, and the splitting of these two groups, particularly as no specimens assigned to either of these groups have been found in Insect-rich deposits such as the Dominican and Mexican ambers. However, if Ross et al.'s interpretation of Chyliza colenutti as a Chylizine is correct, then the group was present 34.2 million years ago, making it unlikely that it is more than two million years younger than Electrochyliza succini.

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A hitchhiking Pseudoscorpion from Chiapas Amber.

Phoresis is an interaction in which an Animal hitches a ride on another Animal purely for the purpose of transport. This is found in a variety of Animal groups, but is particularly common in Mites and Pseudoscorpions. Unusually for an Animal behaviour, phoresis has a fairly long fossil record, with the oldest known example being a Mite found attached to an early Orthopteran Insect from from the Carboniferous Tupo Formation of China, and the oldest known example involving a Pseudoscorpion coming from Cretaceous Burmese Amber.

In a paper published in the journal Historical Biology on 7 April 2024, Víctor Córdova-Tabares of the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos and the Departamento de Zoología at the Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Francisco Riquelme, also of the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, and Gabriel Villegas-Guzmán, Javier Víctor, and Emilio Estrada Ruiz, also of the Departamento de Zoología at the Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, describe an example of phoresis from Mexican Chiapas Amber, in which a Pseudoscorpion is attached to a Crane Fly.

Chiapas Amber comes from the Simojovel, Totolapa, and Estrella de Belén localities in the Chiapas Highlands of southern Mexico, with the Simojovel site being the main centre of commercial amber extraction. The amber comes from a series of limestone, sandstone, siltstone, shale, and lignite beds of Late Oligocene to Early Miocene age, referred to as either the Simojovel Formation or the La Quinta Formation. The amber here is thought to have derived from a type of Leguminous tree of the genus Hymenaea; resin-producing trees belonging to this genus are also thought to have been responsible for Dominican Amber, which is of approximately the same age as Chiapas Amber, and are still found today across the Neotropics. 

The Amber-Lagerstätte from Chiapas in southern Mexico: Simojovel, Totolapa, and Estrella de Belén, Late Oligocene to Early Miocene. Schematic map showing the location of the Montecristo mines in Simojovel. Córdova-Tabares et al. (2024).

The specimen described is a piece of amber from the Montecristo Mine at Simojoval in the Colección de Artrópodos Fósiles of the Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas. The Pseudoscorpion involved is assessed to belong to the genus Hysterochelifer, which has four extant species, but differs from these in the structure of its chelicerae. It is therefore assigned to a new species, Hysterochelifer manpauch, becoming the designated holotype of that species. The specific name 'manpauch' derives from the Tzotzil ‘man pauch’, meaning a person who works with amber.

Hysterochelifer manpauch. (A) Holotype CAF-1 (phoront) and CAF-2 (carrier), general view. (B) CAF-1 in dorsal view; (C) CAF-1 in a closer view. Legs in Roman numerals, abbreviations ab, abdomen; c, carapace; che, chelicera; gt, genitalia pa, patella. Córdova-Tabares et al. (2024).

The Pseudoscorpion is attached to the trochanter (second segment) of the foreleg of a Cranefly assigned to the species Trentepohlia immemorata, one of two species of this genus previously described from Chiapas Amber.

The Pseudoscorpion genus Hysterochelifer belongs to the family Cheliferidae, which is distinguished by having  a well-developed venom apparatus in both chelal fingers. The family dates back to the Middle Cretaceous, with the oldest specimen coming from Cenomanian Archingeay Amber, which comes from the Charente Maritime district of south-western France. A protonymph (hatchling) assigned to the Cheliferidae has previously been described from Chiapas Amber, but this is the first adult specimen. 

Pseudoscorpions attached as phoronts to other Insects have previously been described from both  Baltic and Dominican amber, most commonly targetting Dipterans (True Flies) or Wasps. Living Pseudoscorpions will attach to a variety of organisms, including Vertebrates such as Birds and Mammals, but generally prefer Insects or larger Arachnids, and in particular Beetles. Beetles tend to have fairly specific environmental requirements, as do Pseudoscorpions, so a Pseudoscorpion attaching to a Beetle has a good chance of being carried to a suitable new environment. Flies are more tolerant in their environmental needs, typically settling on a wide range of surfaces, making them less ideal carriers. 

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Nannotanyderus granieri: A new species of Primitive Crane Fly from Early Cretaceous Lebanese Amber.

Primitive Crane Flies, Tanyderidae, are a widely distributed group of mostly aquatic True Flies, Diptera, generally thought to be a relict group. There are 39 living species in ten genera found around the globe, with 34 fossil species dating as far back as the Early Jurassic, which show a greater morphological diversity than is found in the group today. Larval Primitive Crane Flies are typically found in aquatic or semi-aquatic environments, such as wet sandy soil and the outer layers of submerged rotting logs in streams. Adults vary between about 5 mm and about 35 mm in length, and typically have a mottled pattern on their wings, conspicuous mouthparts, and elongated cervical (neck) sclerites.

In a paper published in the journal Carnets Geol. on 1 April 2024, Dany Azar and Sibelle Maksoud of the State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Oil Stratigraphy at the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, and the Natural Sciences Department at the Lebanese University, Di-Ying Huang, also of the State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Oil Stratigraphy at the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Mounir Maalouf, also of the Natural Sciences Department at the Lebanese University, and Chen-Yang Cai, again of the State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Oil Stratigraphy at the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, describe a new species of Primitive Crane Fly from Early Cretaceous Lebanese Amber.

The new species is placed in the genus Nannotanyderus, which contains six previously described species from the Early Jurassic to Early Cretaceous of Germany, England, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and Lebanon, and given the specific name granieri, in honour of Bruno Granier, whose research has significantly advanced the dating of amber outcrops in Lebanon. The species is described from a single female specimen, preserved in a piece of amber from the Bqaatouta outcrop in Caza District, which also includes a Spider and a male Chironomid Dipteran.

Nannotanyderus granieri, holotype, female, specimen number BKT-11A.  (A) Habitus, right lateral side. (B) Habitus, left lateral side. (C) Head photomicrograph with confocal microscope. (D) Wing photomicrograph with confocal microscope. (E) Female terminalia, photomicrograph with confocal microscope. (F) Female terminalia, photomicrograph with compound microscope. Scale bars are 500 µm (A), (B), & (D), 100 µm (C), and 50 µm (E) & (F). Azar et al. (2024).

Nannotanyderus granieri is tiny compared to modern Primitive Crane Flies, measuring only 1571 µm in length. making it the smallest known member of the Tanyderidae (the next smallest, measuring only 1890 µm, is Nannotanyderus ansorgei, also from Lebanese Amber). It lacks an elongated neck, but does have well-developed mouthparts, with sclerotized maxillae longer than the head.

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Solva andamanensis: A new species of Wood Soldier Fly from Andaman Island.

Wood Soldier Flies, Xylomyidae, are a little studied group of Dipteran (True) Flies found across Asia, Australia, and Oceana. These Flies spend the majority of their lives in a larval state, beneath the bark of dead trees. There are currently 143 described species of Wood Soldier Fly, nine of which have been described since 2011, with many areas never sampled for their presence. The phylogenetic positioning of these Flies was uncertain for a long time, but modern genetic methods have shown that they form a sister group to the True Soldier Flies, Stratiomyidae.

In a paper published in the Journal of the Entomological Research Society on 27 March 2024, Debdeep Pramanik, Atanu Nascar, and Dhriti Banerjee of the Zoological Survey of India, present the results of the first survey for Wood Soldier Flies carried out in the Andaman Islands, including a description of a new species.

Pramanik et al. carried out sweep netting in the Sabari and Yeratta forests in North & Middle Andaman District on Andaman Island between 7 and 26 September 2024. During these surveys they recovered two species of Wood Soldier Fly, the previously described Solva javana, which is otherwise known only from the island of Java, over 2000 km to the southeast, and a new, previously undescribed species.

The new species is named Solva andamanensis, where 'andamanensis' means 'from Andaman'. It is described from six adult Flies, all male. These are between 5.0 mm and 5.5 mm in length, with a forewing length of between 4.6 mm and 4.8 mm, and a yellow and black body pattern with white hairs in places.

Field photograph of Solva andamanensis. Pramanik et al. (2024).

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Baskintoconops maaloufi: A new species of Biting Midge from Early Cretaceous Lebanese Amber.

Biting Midges, Ceratopogonidae, are a highly diverse group of True Flies, Diptera, found in all terrestrial environments today, and with a substantial fossil record. Female Biting Midges require a protein meal before laying their eggs, and many obtain this by taking blood or haemolymph from a living Animal (giving them the group its common name) although others visit carrion or obtain nectar or pollen from Plants. Males do not bite. The fossil record of the group dates back to the Early Cretaceous, from when eight genera are known, including six genera and thirty species from Lebanese and Jordanian amber.

In a paper published in the European Journal of Taxonomy on 15 November 2023, Agata Pielowska-Ceranowska of the Laboratory of Evolutionary Entomology and Museum of Amber Inclusions at the University of Gdańsk, Dany Azar of the State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy at the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Department of Biology at the Lebanese University, and Jacek Szwedo, also of the Laboratory of Evolutionary Entomology and Museum of Amber Inclusions at the University of Gdańsk, describe a new species of Biting Midge from the Baskinta (Qanat Bakish) amber outcrop in Lebanon, the first member of the group from this location.

The new species is described from a single female specimen. The wing venation is deemed sufficiently unique for it to be placed in a new genus, which is named Baskintoconops, in reference to the village of Baskinta where it was found, and given the specific name maaloufi, in honour of Mounir and Ramy Maalouf, who collected the specimen. The specimen is 0.86 mm long, with a wing length of 0.5 mm. It has reniform (kidney shaped) eyes and elongated, needle-like mouthparts, and antennae  divided into  15  antennomeres.

Baskintoconops  maaloufi,  holotype  (QBC-13D).  (A)  General  view.  (B)  Compound  eye  and  right  antenna.  (C)  Anterior  portion  of  body,  left  lateral  view.  (D) Head and mouthparts, right lateral view. Pielowska-Ceranowska et al. (2023).

Baskintoconops maaloufi represents the seventh genus and thirty-first species of Biting Midge from Early Cretaceous Lebanese Amber, showing that the group was already diverse and successful by the time these deposits were formed. It has been suggested that this early radiation of the group in the Early Cretaceous was due to the adaptation to feeding on the blood of Vertebrates, though there is no direct evidence for this. The amber-producing Early Cretaceous deposits of Lebanon have yielded the tracks and teeth of a variety of Dinosaurs, although these seem like poor targets for a biting Insect without very specialised mouthparts. These deposits have also produced fossils of both Birds and Pterosaurs, which had thinner skins and seem more plausible food sources, and are known to have been close to water, which might plausibly have attracted Mammals into the area, providing another group of potential blood-doners.

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