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GSA Annual Meeting in Denver, Colorado, USA - 2016

Paper No. 195-8
Presentation Time: 10:00 AM

MID MESOZOIC LACEWINGS AND CENOZOIC BUTTERFLIES EVOLUTIONARILY CONVERGE


LABANDEIRA, Conrad C., College of Life Sciences, Key Laboratory of Insect Evolution and Environmental Change, Capital Normal University, Beijing, 100048, China; Entomology, University of Maryland, 4112 Plant Sciences Building, College Park, MD 20742; Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013-7012, YANG, Qiang, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Key Laboratory of Biodiversity Dynamics and Conservation, Guangzhou, 510275, China, SANTIAGO-BLAY, Jorge, Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013, HOTTON, Carol L., National Center for Biotechnology Information, NCBI/NLM/NIH, Bethesda, MD 20892-6510; Department of Paleobiology, Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC 20013, MONTEIRO, Antonia, Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 117543, Singapore; Yale-National University of Singapore College, Singapore, 138614, Singapore, WANG, Yongjie, College of Life Sciences, Key Laboratory of Insect Evolution and Environmental Change, Capital Normal University, Beijing, 100048, China, GOREVA, Yulia, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Pasadena, CA 91125; Department Mineral Sciences, Smithsonian Institution, PO Box 37012, National Museum of Natural History MRC-119, Washington, DC 20013-7012, SHIH, ChungKun, College of Life Sciences, Capital Normal University, Key Laboratory of Insect Evolution and Environmental Change, Beijing, 100048, China; Department of Paleobiology, Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC 20013, SILJESTROM, Sandra, Department of Chemistry, Materials and Surfaces, SP Technical Research of Sweden, Boras, 51115, Sweden; Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, DC 20015, ROSE, Timothy R., Department Mineral Sciences, Smithsonian Institution, PO Box 37012, National Museum of Natural History MRC-119, Washington, DC 20013-7012, DILCHER, David, Biology Department, University of Indiana, Bloomington, IN 47401 and REN, Dong, College of Life Sciences, Capital Normal University, Key Laboratory of Insect Evolution and Environmental Change, Beijing, 100048, China, labandec@si.edu

Historically the poor preservation of kalligrammatid lacewings (Order Neuroptera) has prevented knowledge of their biology. This clade of large, showy insects appeared in the fossil record 165 m.y. ago and became extinct around 110 m.y. ago. By contrast, after a 55 million-year interim, butterflies (Order Lepidoptera), appear relatively recent around 55 m.y. ago, contributing a poor fossil record but becoming one of the more important herbivore and pollinator groups in modern ecosystems. Our study of mid-Mesozoic kalligrammatid lacewings from Kazakhstan and especially Northeastern China has revealed a surprising array of several features that are evolutionarily and ecologically convergent with Cenozoic butterflies. These include wing eyespots with possible melanin centers, wing scales, elongate tubular proboscides, and similar modes of fluid feeding on seed-plant ovulate organs. To study these organisms, we prepared camera lucida drawings; macerated pollen; imaged through polarized light, epifluorescence and scanning electron microscopy; and used techniques such as energy dispersive spectrometry and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry. We found that the evolutionary developmental pattern of wing spot and eyespot absence and the presence of wing spot and five distinctive eyespot morphotypes, when mapped onto a phylogeny of Kalligrammatidae, resembled similar evolutionary patterns in modern butterflies. The mode of lacewing fluid feeding on pollen-drop-bearing gymnosperm ovulate fructifications such as bennettitaleans likely resembled those of more recent butterflies that imbibe the nectar of angiosperm flowers, indicating similar ecological roles. We suggest that the primary function of wing eyespot in arboreal kalligrammatids was predation deterrence through production of an effective startle response to ward off potential predators such as lizards, early birds and small, perching, theropod dinosaurs. The similarities between kalligrammatid lacewings and butterflies may be one of the best examples of evolutionary convergence in the insect fossil record.

Session No. 195

T150. Topics in Paleoecology: Modern Analogues and Ancient Systems III
Tuesday, 27 September 2016: 8:00 AM-12:00 PM
Mile High Ballroom 4AB (Colorado Convention Center)
Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 48, No. 7
doi: 10.1130/abs/2016AM-280053
© Copyright 2016 The Geological Society of America (GSA), all rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted to the author(s) of this abstract to reproduce and distribute it freely, for noncommercial purposes. Permission is hereby granted to any individual scientist to download a single copy of this electronic file and reproduce up to 20 paper copies for noncommercial purposes advancing science and education, including classroom use, providing all reproductions include the complete content shown here, including the author information. All other forms of reproduction and/or transmittal are prohibited without written permission from GSA Copyright Permissions.
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