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Researchers from the Department of Zoology at the University of Granada have captured micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) images of an undescribed insect trapped in amber for over 35 million years, allowing researchers to identify its species. The findings are published in Scientific Reports.
Examining a mystery species
The international research collaboration led by the University of Granada has discovered and described the specimen as Calliarcys antiquus, a member of the Ephemeroptera order – also known as mayflies.
Professor Javier Alba-Tercedor, professor of zoology at the University of Granada and co-author of the study, used a technique known as micro-CT to obtain clear images of the insect, enabling it to be studied and described in detail.
What is micro-CT?
Micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) uses X-rays to produce 3D images. Similar to a CT scan in a hospital, micro-CT is on a much smaller scale with an increased resolution of around 0.5 microns. X-rays “illuminate” and capture images of the object. Computer software programs convert two-dimensional cross-sectional images into three-dimensional images.
Based on 3D microscopy, micro-CT allows the internal structures of small objects to be captured non-invasively i.e., no cross-sections or complex pre-treatments are required. This means the sample is left intact for further analysis.
The insect was found embedded in a piece of Baltic amber estimated to be between 35 and 47 million years of age. Amber is formed from fossilized resin, a sticky, viscous liquid that is produced by conifers and other plants in response to damage. Insects that became trapped in this resin millions of years ago can still be found today, highly preserved in this fossilized material that we know as amber.
“The conservation of the specimens trapped inside the amber is often excellent, and the transparency of the material that surrounds them enables them to be studied, under a microscope, in great detail,” Alba-Tercedor explained. “But, in other cases, the level of transparency is not good because the areas of opacity that form prevent certain details from being examined.”
A discovery millions of years in the making
When the researchers examined this specimen from the Baltic, they found it was completely transparent – however, the insect itself was more translucent. This included parts of the body that are essential for identifying the specimen’s species, such as the end of the abdomen and the genitalia. As this translucence hindered its identification, the researchers subsequently turned to micro-CT.
Alba-Tercedor used this technique to reconstruct the entire insect, including those areas otherwise impossible to observe due to the opacity of the amber, identifying it as belonging to the genus Calliarcys. With expert knowledge from researchers at the University of Łódź and the Institute of Entomology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, the study of the previously undescribed species of mayfly was then completed by comparing DNA analysis from extant species of the genus (i.e., a species from the Calliarcys genus that has survived to the present day).
“In short, it all started with the discovery of a beautiful insect preserved in amber, which attracted the attention of the expert eyes of a scientist. And this ultimately required the enthusiastic collaboration and detective work of five scientists based in research centers located in four countries, who, after applying the latest techniques, were finally able to name and describe an insect that has remained locked inside a drop of amber for millions of years,” Alba-Tercedor summarized.
Reference: Godunko RJ, Alba-Tercedor J, Grabowski M, Rewicz T, Staniczek AH. Cenozoic origins of the genus Calliarcys (Insecta, Ephemeroptera) revealed by Micro-CT, with DNA barcode gap analysis of Leptophlebiinae and Habrophlebiinae. Sci Rep. 2022;12(1):15228. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-18234-4
This article is a rework of a press release issued by the University of Granada. Material has been edited for length and content.
FAQs
Discovery of an unknown insect genus trapped in amber for over 35 million years. Thanks to an international research collaboration involving the University of Granada (UGR), a hitherto undescribed species of insect has been discovered: Calliarcys antiquus, which belongs to the Ephemeroptera (mayfly) order.
What insect was trapped in amber? ›
The song and hearing range of a cricket-like insect has been discovered tens of millions of years after its death. After being trapped in amber for 44 million years, new scans of Eomortoniellus handlirschi have allowed scientists to reconstruct the katydid's mating call.
What is the oldest thing trapped in amber? ›
Researchers found a male mosquito trapped in amber 130 million years ago, the oldest ever discovered.
What is an insect trapped in amber an example of? ›
Insects trapped in amber are a classic example of original remains fossils due to their pristine preservation.
What can we learn about studying insects trapped in amber? ›
Insect inclusions in amber provide a unique window into prehistoric ecosystems. Through examining these impeccably preserved specimens, researchers can rebuild ancient food chains, comprehend the interrelations between diverse species, and glean understanding about past environmental states.
Does real amber have bugs in it? ›
Amber. The beads may contain inclusions such as small insects, bark fragments and oak hairs (only visible with a hand lens).
What creatures have been found in amber? ›
Over nearly two centuries, paleontologists studying amber have found insects, arachnids, crabs, plants, fungi, nematodes, plants, microorganisms, and even the occasional piece of a bigger vertebrate animal.
Is there a million year old bug in amber? ›
Researchers discover 99-mln-year-old bug preserved in amber
The mid-Cretaceous fossil specimens were quarried from an amber mine in Hukawng Valley in northern Myanmar and purchased over a year ago by researchers on the online trading platform eBay.
What was the largest thing trapped in amber? ›
Here we report an exceptionally large flower from late Eocene Baltic amber, measuring 28 mm across, which is about three times as large as most floral inclusions. This fossil was described over 150 years ago as Stewartia kowalewskii (Theaceae) and has never been revised.
Can amber still be found? ›
Deposits of amber occur throughout both the Old and the New Worlds, and many varieties are recognized. Of the many kinds of amber found in the Old World, the most plentiful today, as in antiquity, is Baltic amber (figure 12), or succinite (so called because it has a high concentration of succinic acid).
As a result of these findings, most scientists now agree that DNA doesn't survive in fossilized insects in amber. NHM: Do you think it is likely that scientists will ever be able to extract dinosaur DNA from fossil mosquitoes in amber?
What does amber do to insects? ›
Resin's antiseptic properties protect the tree from disease, and its stickiness can gum up the jaws of gnawing and burrowing insects.
Are termites trapped in amber? ›
Trapped in the act 38 million years ago, two termites have revealed how fossilized amber can reveal insights into ancient mating behavior. Scientists were puzzled when they saw an extinct pair of the species Electrotermes affinis were preserved side to side, instead of front to back, as occurs in modern-day termites.
How do insects trapped in amber become fossilised rather than decaying? ›
Amber is sticky, like honey or glue. The insects land on tree sap either intentionally or by accident, and can't exert enough force to remove themselves from it. The tree sap continues to flow and coats the insect. The sap hardens into amber, preserving the now dead insect forever.
How old are insects in amber? ›
Earliest insect parental care
Much of it is approximately the same age, roughly 100 million years old, thus making it the oldest gem-quality amber in the world. This puts burmite as a dinosaur-age amber although we still have no traces of the country's bigger extinct inhabitants.
What insect trapped in amber reveals the evolutionary battles of ancient Europe? ›
katydids: An evolutionary battle. Hundreds of millions of years ago, katydids were among the first animals to take advantage of using sound to communicate. They started to make noise by scraping their wings together, with the earliest evidence for this dating back more than 240 million years.
What ancient co*ckroach was in amber? ›
Ninety-nine-million-year-old fossil is a rare specimen indeed. Look closely at this piece of fossilized amber and you'll spot something unusual: a co*ckroach trapped with its own feces (arrow). The find, recovered from Myanmar's rich amber deposits, is 99 million years old.
What spider was found in amber? ›
Call it Chimerarachne yingi, a newly discovered arachnid that crawled around rain forests in what is now Southeast Asia more than 100 million years ago during the Cretaceous period. Its remains were found imprisoned in amber, as if Mother Nature herself tried to lock this tiny terror away from the rest of the world.
What is the parasitic wasp in amber? ›
A strange wingless female parasitic wasp from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber is described as Aptenoperissus burmanicus sp.
