LATE CRETACEOUS INSECTS FROM NEW JERSEY

An assemblage of fossil insects from the South Amboy Fire Clay (Raritan Formation: Turonian, 90 MYBP) of New Jersey is described. The three-dimensional insect fossils are composed entirely of carbon. Although only isolated parts of the insects are preserved, scales, setae, pores and even cellular details are visible using a scanning electron microscope. Many of the fossils have affinities to modern insect taxa, and the detailed preservation allows identification to the family and sometimes to the generic level. Other specimens belong to taxa that are previously unknown. The fossil insects are preserved in association with a diverse array of angiosperm flowers that are being studied in the Wiliam Crepet Laboratory, Bailey Hortorium, Cornell University. Together, the fossil insects and flowers may provide insight into plant-insect relationships during the Cretaceous and the origins of modern plant-insect interactions.