Oldest Insect Pollinators from 100 Million-Years Ago Found in Amber
Posted on May 20, 2012
Amber from Cretaceous deposits in Northern Spain revealed the oldest record of insect pollination. Scientists have discovered several 100 million-year-old specimens of tiny insects covered with pollen grains in pieces of amber.
The amber contained thysanopterans (also known as thrips), a group of minute insects of less than 2 mm in length that feed on pollen and other plant tissues. The researchers say these insects are efficient pollinators for several species of flowering plants. Two amber pieces revealed six fossilized specimens of female thrips with hundreds of pollen grains attached to their bodies. These insects have specialized hairs (similar to domestic bees) with a ringed structure to increase their ability to collect pollen grains.
The scientists describe these six specimens in a new genus (Gymnopollisthrips) comprising two new species, G. minor and G. major. A Gymnospollisthrips major in amber will pollen grains attached is pictured above. The scientists say the pollen grains found on the insects is from a kind of cycad or ginkgo tree, a kind of living fossil of which only a few species are known to science.
The research was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of the Science (PNAS) dated 14-18 May 2012.