The false click beetles (Coleoptera: Elateroidea: Eucnemidae) of the Dominican Republic. Part I: A look into the past

Abstract

Thirteen new fossil eucnemid taxa (Coleoptera: Elateroidea) are described from amber deposits excavated from the vicinity of Santiago, Dominican Republic. Two new genera, Mioxylobius and Paleo¬quirsfeldia are described. The following 13 new species are described from Dominican amber: Mioxylobius bicolor, Balistica serrulata, Paleoquirsfeldia epicrana, Dyscharachthis dominicana, Idiotarsus poinari, Eurypty¬chus antilliensis, Euryptychus hispaniolus, Plesiofornax caribica, Fornax dominicensis, Fornax serropalpoides, Dromaeolus argenteus, Nematodes miocenensis and Nematodes thoracicus. Each new species are both diag¬nosed and illustrated. Calyptocerus Guérin-Méneville and Lissantauga Poinar are shown to be congeneic, resulting in a new combination: Calyptocerus epicranis (Poinar, 2013). Summaries of fossil eucnemid dis¬coveries, highlighting differing hypothesis of prehistoric Caribbean island formations/speciation, accounts of ancient Dominican Republic environmental conditions and Dominican Republic amber are provided.

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