Eocene-fossils
Guides
Cupes
Cupes is a genus of reticulate beetles in the family Cupedidae, containing a single extant species, Cupes capitatus, native to eastern North America. The genus has a remarkably diverse fossil record, with numerous extinct species described from Eocene to Pliocene deposits in Europe and China. The extant species is small, averaging 7.8 mm in length, with distinctive orange head ornamentation. The disjunct distribution—living species in North America versus abundant fossils in Europe—suggests a formerly widespread group with a contracted modern range.
Hesperinus
Hesperinus is the sole genus in the relict family Hesperinidae, a small group of nematoceran flies in the infraorder Bibionomorpha. The genus contains approximately 8 extant species distributed primarily across the Palaearctic region, with single species in the Nearctic and Neotropical regions. Three fossil species have been described from Eocene Baltic amber. The family represents a phylogenetically isolated lineage with limited ecological and biological documentation.
Melandryidae
False Darkling Beetles
Melandryidae, or false darkling beetles, is a family of beetles in the superfamily Tenebrionoidea containing approximately 420 species in 60 genera. Members are found worldwide and are primarily associated with rotting wood and wood-decomposing fungi in both larval and adult stages. The family has a fossil record extending back to at least the mid-Cretaceous (Albian-Cenomanian) with specimens in Burmese amber, and the tribe Hypulini is documented from late Eocene Baltic amber. Many species are saproxylic, inhabiting dead and decaying wood in forest ecosystems.
Mycetophilinae
fungus gnats
Mycetophilinae is a subfamily of fungus gnats within the family Mycetophilidae. It contains more than 30 genera and approximately 2,000 described species, organized into two tribes: Exechiini and Mycetophilini. Members are classified in the suborder Nematocera, a group of 'primitive' flies characterized by aquatic or moisture-dependent larval stages. The subfamily is distinguished from related fungus gnat subfamilies by specific morphological and taxonomic criteria, though precise diagnostic features for the subfamily level are not detailed in available sources.
Myrmeciinae
Bull and Dinosaur Ants
Myrmeciinae is a subfamily of ants in the family Formicidae, currently restricted to Australia and New Caledonia but with a fossil record indicating former worldwide distribution during the Eocene. The subfamily is notable for possessing gamergates—female workers capable of mating and reproducing to sustain colonies after queen loss. It includes two extant tribes (Myrmeciini and Prionomyrmecini) with living genera Myrmecia and Nothomyrmecia, plus multiple fossil genera from Eocene deposits in North America and Europe. Myrmeciinae is considered sociobiologically primitive, exhibiting ancestral traits such as simple colony organization and the absence of worker behavioral subcastes in studied species.
Ptilodactyla
toe-winged beetles
Ptilodactyla is a large and cosmopolitan genus of toe-winged beetles comprising approximately 370–380 described species, representing roughly 70% of all species in the family Ptilodactylidae. The genus is characterized by distinctive morphological features including pectinate male antennae with articulated rami, incomplete lateral pronotal carinae anteriorly, concealed trochantins, and pseudotetramerous tarsi with reduced tarsomere IV and lobed tarsomere III. Fossil records extend to the Eocene, with specimens described from Baltic amber (Russia) and Rovno amber (Ukraine). Some species have been introduced outside their native ranges through human activity.
Xenoscelinae
pleasing fungus beetles
Xenoscelinae is a subfamily of pleasing fungus beetles (family Erotylidae) containing approximately 8 genera and 12 extant species. The group exhibits a relict modern distribution with populations scattered across the Mediterranean, northern Europe, Central Asia, New Zealand, Australia, the Neotropics, and Afrotropics. Fossil evidence from Eocene Baltic and Rovno ambers indicates the subfamily was once far more diverse, comprising 50-67% of European amber Erotylidae during the Priabonian. Extant species occupy varied microhabitats including dead wood, decaying vegetation, and the nests of bees and wasps.