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Rearing and Double-stranded RNA-mediated Gene Knockdown in the Hide Beetle, Dermestes maculatus

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Transitional fossil earwigs--a missing link in Dermaptera evolution.

Jingxia Zhao¹, Yunyun Zhao, Chungkun Shih

¹Key Laboratory of Insect Evolution and Environmental changes, College of Life Sciences, Capital Normal University, Beijing 100048, China.

BMC Evolutionary Biology

|November 11, 2010

Summary

Two new fossil earwigs from China reveal the evolutionary history of Dermaptera. The newly discovered Bellodermatidae family represents a crucial link between ancient and modern earwig suborders.

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Area of Science:

Paleoentomology
Insect Evolution
Mesozoic Arthropods

Background:

Dermaptera, or earwigs, are winged insects with uncertain evolutionary relationships within Polyneoptera.
Their expanded anal region and numerous hind wing veins present unique morphological characteristics.
The evolutionary history and origin of Dermaptera remain a subject of scientific debate.

Purpose of the Study:

To describe two new fossil earwigs from the Middle Jurassic Jiulongshan Formation in Inner Mongolia, China.
To establish a new family, Bellodermatidae fam. nov., based on these fossils.
To elucidate the evolutionary relationships and phylogenetic position of early Dermaptera.

Main Methods:

Fossil discovery and collection from the Jiulongshan Formation.
Morphological analysis of fossil specimens, identifying primitive and derived characters.
Phylogenetic analyses to determine the placement of the new family within Dermaptera.

Main Results:

Discovery and description of two new fossil earwigs belonging to the new family Bellodermatidae.
Bellodermatidae exhibits a unique combination of primitive and derived traits, linking Archidermaptera and Eodermaptera.
Phylogenetic analyses place Bellodermatidae as a basal clade within Eodermaptera, representing a stem group of Eodermaptera and Neodermaptera.

Conclusions:

The discovery of Bellodermatidae provides critical evidence for understanding Dermaptera evolution.
It is proposed that the earliest Dermaptera originated in the Late Triassic-Early Jurassic.
By the Middle Jurassic, Dermaptera had likely diverged into Archidermaptera and a clade comprising Eodermaptera and Neodermaptera.