Diochus electrus
Diochus electrus Temporal range:
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Diochus electrus | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Coleoptera |
Family: | Staphylinidae |
Genus: | Diochus |
Species: | †D. electrus
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Binomial name | |
†Diochus electrus Chatzimanolis & Engel, 2011
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Diochus electrus is an extinct
History and classification
Diochus electrus is known only from one fossil, the holotype, number "KU-NHM-ENT, B-244". It is a single complete adult female preserved as an inclusion in a specimen of clear orange amber. The fossil was recovered from an outcrop of the Blaue Erde deposits which contain the fossil resins in the Baltic region.
When Diochus electrus was described, it was the first definitive species of the rove beetle subfamily Staphylininae to be described from the fossil record.[1] The Baltic amber species Bembicidiodes inaequicollis, described by L. W. Schaufuss in 1888, was formerly considered part of Staphylininae. However reevaluation of the species in 2001 by L.H. Herman raised doubts about the correct subfamily placement for B. inaequicollis. Diochus electrus is one of eleven species of the genus Diochus inhabiting the Palearctic realm.[1]
Description
The Diochus electrus type specimen is a well preserved fully complete female with a total body length of 3.5 millimetres (0.14 in). The 0.56 by 0.48 millimetres (0.022 by 0.019 in) head is ovoid in shape and has fine sculpturing with sporadic punctations. The antenna do not have a geniculate structure, which indicates placement of the species into the tribe Diochini. Though similar to the genus
References
- ^ PMID 22144854.