Review of the rove beetles (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) from the Pliocene of Willershausen, Germany.

The rove beetle fauna (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) (excluding the subfamily Silphinae) of the PlioceneofWillershausen (Lower Saxony, North Germany) is reviewed based on the type and other material of previously described or reported taxa, as well as two new specimens. Six subfamilies are represented in the deposit, with two subfamilial assignments considered tentative: Aleocharinae?, Micropeplinae, Oxytelinae, Paederinae, Staphylininae? and Tachyporinae. Pliosyntomium Korge, 1967 syn.

New records of immature aquatic Diptera from the Foulden Maar Fossil-Lagerstätte, New Zealand, and their biogeographic implications.

Background: The biogeographical and ecological history of true flies (Diptera) in New Zealand is little known due to a scarcity of fossil specimens. Here, we report a fauna of immature aquatic dipterans from freshwater diatomites of the early Miocene Foulden Maar Fossil-Lagerstätte in southern New Zealand.

Methods: We document 30 specimens of immature dipterans, mostly pupae, and compare their external morphology to extant aquatic Diptera.

A crane fly of the genus Macquart (Diptera, Limoniidae) from the early Miocene of New Zealand.

The first fossil limoniid fly from the Miocene Fossil-Lagerstätte of Foulden Maar in New Zealand is described on the basis of an isolated well-preserved wing. The specimen is tentatively attributed to a new species in the large extant genus , which is well diversified in the country. It is the second fossil record of this genus, the first one being an isolated wing from the Cretaceous Weald Clay Formation in the United Kingdom.

 (Mycocaliciales, Ascomycota) from exudates of endemic New Zealand Podocarpaceae.

The order Mycocaliciales (Ascomycota) comprises fungal species with diverse, often highly specialized substrate ecologies. Particularly within the genus , many species exclusively occur on fresh and solidified resins or other exudates of vascular plants. In New Zealand, the only previously known species growing on plant exudate is , found on several endemic angiosperms in the family Araliaceae.

An Akania (Akaniaceae) inflorescence with associated pollen from the early Miocene of New Zealand.

Premise Of The Study: An Akania-like inflorescence, including flowers with in situ pollen was recovered from the remarkable Konservat-Lagerstätte lacustrine diatomite deposit at Foulden Maar, Otago indicating the presence of Akaniaceae in southern New Zealand during the early Miocene. The flowers, although slightly smaller than the sole modern Australian species, A. bidwillii, contain pollen grains that are very like that taxon.

High richness of insect herbivory from the early Miocene Hindon Maar crater, Otago, New Zealand.

Plants and insects are key components of terrestrial ecosystems and insect herbivory is the most important type of interaction in these ecosystems. This study presents the first analysis of associations between plants and insects for the early Miocene Hindon Maar fossil lagerstätte, Otago, New Zealand. A total of 584 fossil angiosperm leaves representing 24 morphotypes were examined to determine the presence or absence of insect damage types.

A new genus and species of tettigarctid cicada from the early Miocene of New Zealand: Paratettigarctazealandica (Hemiptera, Auchenorrhyncha, Tettigarctidae).

A new genus and species of primitive cicada (Hemiptera: Tettigarctidae) is described from the early Miocene of southern New Zealand. Paratettigarctazealandica gen. et sp.

Reproductive niche conservatism in the isolated New Zealand flora over 23 million years.

The temporal stability of plant reproductive features on islands has rarely been tested. Using flowers, fruits/cones and seeds from a well-dated (23 Ma) Miocene Lagerstätte in New Zealand, we show that across 23 families and 30 genera of forest angiosperms and conifers, reproductive features have remained constant for more than 20 Myr. Insect-, wind- and bird-pollinated flowers and wind- and bird-dispersed diaspores all indicate remarkable reproductive niche conservatism, despite widespread environmental and biotic change.

A fossil Fuchsia (Onagraceae) flower and an anther mass with in situ pollen from the early Miocene of New Zealand.

Premise Of The Study: Fuchsia (Onagraceae) anthers, pollen, and an ornithophilous Fuchsia-like flower from an earliest Miocene lacustrine diatomite deposit at Foulden Maar, southern New Zealand confirm a long record for Fuchsia in New Zealand and probably an equally long history for its distinctive honeyeater pollination syndrome. The anthers contain in situ pollen of the fossil palynomorph previously assigned to Diporites aspis Pocknall et Mildenh. (Onagraceae: Fuchsia L.