| Kachin amber from northern Myanmar was formed about 100 million years ago during the mid-Cretaceous.It is of great scientific value in gemology,paleontology and evolutionary biology because of its hardness and rich biological inclusions.The earliest records of Burmese amber can be dated back to 205-265 AD(see Han Record),but its contents have only been studied for about 100 years,the American scholar Cockerell(1916)firstly carried out the entomological study of Burmese amber.In the past 20 years,scholars set off a surge of research on Burmese amber,nearly 600 families have been reported,including bryophytes,ferns,gymnosperms,angiosperms,fungi,molluscs,arachnids,vertebrates,nematodes,and arthropods.The research advance on larval morphology and biology of Neuroptera and Coleoptera was summarized.The larval morphological characters of lacewing larvae and beetle larvae were studied and the common morphological terms were defined and annotated.Five lacewing larvae and two beetle larvae were identified from Kachin amber,i.e.Acanthochrysa langae Liu et al.,2022 from Chrysopoidea;Kuafupolydentes hui Luo et al.,2022 from Myrmeleontiformia;Cretomigadops bidentatus Liu et al.,2023 from Migadopinae;Cretoloricera electra Liu et al.,2023 from Loricerinae;Pedanoptera arachnophile Liu et al.,2016 from Mesochrysopidae,paratype;Cladofer huangi Badano et al,2018 from Stem-group Myrmeleontiformia,paratype;Adelpholeon lithophorus Badano et al,2018 from Stem-group Myrmeleontidae+Ascalaphidae,paratype.The larvae of these seven species were described.These specimens studied herein are of great significance.Not only provide some important evidence of insect ecological behavior,e.g.camouflaging behavior,digging behavior,cannibalism behavior,etc.,reflecting the ecological adaptation of insects and providing new clues for the reconstruction of ancient ecosystems,but also fill the gap of some coleopteran groups in Southeast Asia during the Cretaceous period,providing valuable clues for the study of plate movement and the origin of Burma plate. |
