Study On The Jurassic Fossil Cupedidae And Ommatidae From Northeast China (Coleoptera: Archostemata)

Eastern Inner Mongolia and Western Liaoning are located in the northeast part of China. It has preserved comprehensive deposits of long geological history, yielding abundant fossils. This area is one of the most typical areas in the world, with well-developed continental Mesozoic sediments. Most notable fossils from this area are from the terrestrial Jurassic especially in Jiulongshan Formation of Middle Jurassic and Yixian formation of Late Jurassic, where abundant beetle fossils including cupedids, ommatids and other beetles have been discovered, providing important evidence for the study of the origin and early evolution of beetles.The present paper is a taxonomy study of the fossil Cupedidae and Ommatidae from northeast China. First of all, the researching history on Cupedidae is given. Secondly, the morphology, biology and distribution of adults are reviewed. At last, a taxonomic work on Jurassic Cupeidae and Ommatidae is presented. 20 species of 8 genera within Cupedidae and Ommatidae are reported, of which 20 species and 4 genera are new to science. Of the 8 genera studied, 3 genera are first recorded from China and 2 genera are the oldest in geological history in the world.The new genera and new species in this paper are listed as follows:New genera: Ovalcupes gen. nov., Calvcupes gen. nov., Gracilcupes gen.nov., and Amblomma gen. nov.New species: Priacma latidentata sp.nov., Priacma renaria sp.nov., Priacma foveolata sp.nov., Priacmopsis tylodes sp.nov., Ovalcupes alienus gen. et sp.nov., Mesocupes complanus sp. nov., Calvcupes grandis gen. et sp.nov., Gracilcupess grossicrus gen. et sp.nov., Gracilcupes tenuicrus gen. et sp.nov., Amblomma psilata gen. et sp. nov., Amblomma rudis gen. et sp.nov., Amblomma epicharis gen. et sp.nov., Amblomma lata gen. et sp.nov., Amblomma stabilis gen. et sp.nov., Amblomma plana gen. et sp.nov., Amblomma eumeura gen. et sp.nov., Amblomma porrecta gen. et sp.nov., Amblomma miniscula gen. et sp.nov., Amblomma cyclodonta gen. et sp.nov. and Tetraphalerus decorus sp.nov.Keys to the tribes of Cupedinae, genera of Priacmini, Cupedini and Mesocupedini, and species of Priacma and Amblomma are given. The important critical characteristics of fossil cupedids are summarized. And the possible reason why many species of Amblomma are found from the same horizon is discussed.Gracilcupess grossicrus gen. et sp.nov.and Gracilcupes tenuicrus gen. et sp.nov. are collected in Daohugou Villiage, Ningcheng country, Inner Mongolia from the Middle Jurassic Jiulongshan Formation. Other specimens described here are collected in Chaomidian village, Beipiao city, Liaoning Province from the Late Jurassic Yixian Formation. The specimens were examined with LAICA MZ12.5 dissecting microscope and illustrated with the aid of a drawing tube attached to microscope. All the type specimens described here are deposited in the College of Life Science, Capital Normal University in Beijing, China.