Study On The Mesozoic Fossil Weevils And Mordellids From Northeast China (Coleoptera: Curculionoidea, Mordellidae)

Eastern Inner Mongolia and Western Liaoning are located in the northeast part of China. Its non-marine sedimentary strata, especially in Jiulongshan Formation of Middle Jurassic and Yixian Formation of Late Jurassic, yield a mass of notable fossils including abounded insects which providing important evidence for the study of the origin and early evolution of insects. However, the record of fossil weevils and mordellids are rare. Owing to the hard field work during the past decades, we have collected many well preserved fossil weevils and mordellids. These valuable materials are the important supplement to the record of world fossil weevils and mordellids and may aid study of their origin as well as their interactions between insects and plants.This dissertation is about the study of fossil weevils and mordellids collected from Yixian Formation and Jiulongshan Formation. It consists of following six parts.In Part one, the biology, anatomy of weevils and mordellids are reviewed.In Part two, a brief researching history of fossil weevils and mordellids and discussed their phylogeny are provided.In Part three, the geological sections of Jiulongshan Formation and Yixian Formation where fossil weevils and mordellids study in this dissertation were collected are introduced.In Part four, a comprehensive taxonomic work on Mesozoic weevils and mordellids are presented. 7 genera and 16 species including 7 new species among three familes (Nemonychidae, Eccoptarthridae, Belidae) within Curculionoidea are described and illustrated: Brenthorrhinoides latipecteris Liu, Ren and Tan, 2006; Brenthorrhinoides angustipecteris Liu, Ren and Tan, 2006; Brenthorrhinoides magnoculi Liu, Ren and Tan, 2006; Brenthorrhinoides opimus sp. nov.; Cretonanophyes zherikhini Liu and Ren, 2006; Cretonanophyes punctatus Liu and Ren, 2007; Cretonanophyes physematosus sp. nov.; Abrocar brachyorhinos Liu and Ren, 2006; Abrocar macilentus Liu and Ren, 2007; Abrocar amoena sp. nov.; Abrocar ooidea sp. nov.; Leptocar polychaetus Liu and Ren, 2007; Microprobelus liuae Liu and Ren, 2006; Microprobelus strenussp. nov.; Probelopsis laevis sp. nov.; Belonotaris angusta sp. nov.. 9 genera and 15 species within Mordellidae including 8 new genera 14 new species are are described and illustrated: Mirimordella gracilicruralis Liu, Lu and Ren, 2007; Bellimordella capitulifera gen. et sp. nov.; Bellimordella robusta gen. et sp. nov.; Bellimordella longispina gen. et sp. nov.; Robustipraemordella striata gen. et sp. nov.; Serripraemordella opima gen. et sp. nov.; Serripraemordella collaris gen. et sp. nov.; Serripraemordella rigida gen. et sp. nov.; Longipraemordella muricata gen. et sp. nov.; Longipraemordella amoena gen. et sp. nov.; Gracilipraemordella angustiventer gen. et sp. nov.; Gracilipraemordella levigata gen. et sp. nov.; Originipraemordella biloba gen. et sp. nov.; Dentipraemordella ovoidea gen. et sp. nov.; Globipraemordella peregrina gen. et sp. nov.. Totally 39 line drawings and 53 photos are presented. Eccoptarthridae is the first recorded from China.In Part five, the interactions between insects and plants are discussed. The principle, method of the study of geological interactions between insects and plants are introduced. The possible host plants to these ancient weevils and mordellids as well as the interactions between their characters and the plants are discussed.In Part six, the possible diffusing route of the weevils is discussed according to their distributed character.