The first fossil lace bug (Heteroptera: Tingidae) from New Zealand

Abstract

Abstract The first fossil lace bug (Tingidae) from New Zealand is described from the earliest Miocene Foulden Maar Fossil-Lagerstätte in Otago. The single specimen, observable in ventral position in finely laminated lacustrine diatomite, belongs to Tingidae based on the areolate (lace-like) paranotum and hemelytra and the presence of sternal laminae. The incomplete preservation does not allow for a definite identification of the genus, and the fossil is provisionally identified as Tingidae gen. et sp. indet. This new record adds the family Tingidae to the Miocene Heteroptera fauna of New Zealand and the Australasian region. Uwe Kaulfuss [uwe.kaulfuss@uni-goettingen.de], Department of Animal Evolution and Biodiversity, University of Göttingen, Untere Karspüle 2, 37073 Göttingen, Germany Ernst Heiss [aradus@aon.at], Tiroler Landesmuseum, Josef-Schraffl-Strasse 2a, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria.