99-million-year old bugs played key role in plant pollination

By Stephen Beech

A 99-million-year-old creepy-crawly shows that bugs once played a key role in plant pollination.

Scientists say the bug, preserved for tens of millions of years in amber, has revealed new information about how flowers and other flora were pollinated when dinosaurs roamed the Earth.

They explained that when we think of pollinating insects today, bees, butterflies, or flies usually come to mind - but rarely true bugs.

The Hungarian research team has now confirmed, based on the ancient bug preserved in Burmese amber, that the behavior may have been "more widespread" among bugs in earlier stages of Earth’s history.

Burmese amber, also known as Burmite, is a rare fossilized tree resin from Myanmar - previously known as Burma - dating back to the Cretaceous period.

It is prized for its exceptionally well-preserved ancient organic inclusions, including a range of insects, plants, and even fragments of dinosaurs, providing a unique glimpse into ancient ecosystems.

Burmese amber formed around 99 million years ago, on the West Burma terrane - a landmass that had already separated from the "supercontinent" Gondwana more than 100 million years earlier, and remained in the equatorial region of the Tethys Ocean until the Late Eocene.

As a result, although its wildlife originated from Gondwana, it evolved in isolation for millions of years, giving rise to a rich array of unique flora and fauna.

While studying such an inclusion, Dr. Peter Kobor and his colleagues discovered a flat bug belonging to the subfamily Prosympiestinae, which is the first known representative of that subfamily in Burmese amber.

Dr. Kobor, of the Centre for Agricultural Research in Hungary, says the find was "interesting" even within the family, since all flat bugs previously known from Burmese amber belonged to more derived groups, while older lineages were absent from the faunal inventory.

But he said: "What truly makes the newly described species, named Shaykayatcoris michalskii, remarkable, however, is its iridescent, shimmering exoskeleton - never before seen in this family.

"Although iridescence is not uncommon among bugs, it is particularly unusual in such cryptic groups as flat bugs.

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"True to their name, these insects typically live under tree bark and feed on fungal hyphae.

"Their lifestyle is associated with specific morphological adaptations, such as a strongly flattened body and elongated stylets, which are coiled inside the head capsule at rest.

"By contrast, members of the Prosympiestinae subfamily differ both in lifestyle and morphology: their bodies are more cylindrical, and they live mostly in leaf litter or under logs and branches lying on the ground."

Dr. Kobor explained that iridescence may serve two functions.

One is as a deterrent if the coloration is bright and highly conspicuous, but that was unlikely in this case, as the bug’s base color is brownish.

Dr. Kobor says more probably, it functioned as camouflage, helping the insect blend into a floral environment.

He said: "The amber also contained plant fragments and a large amount of pollen surrounding the insect, with grains even stuck to its body.

"This, together with its iridescent coloration, suggests that the bug visited flowers - and likely played a role in pollination.

"The discovery confirms that bugs’ role in flower visitation, and possibly in pollination, may have been much more significant in earlier evolutionary stages than it is today.

"Most modern bugs are no longer flower visitors, likely having been displaced from this 'niche' by more specialized pollinators such as bees."

Dr. Kobor added: "This finding helps us understand how today’s insect fauna evolved, and how species responded to competition and environmental changes.

"Armed with this knowledge, we can also better navigate current ecological and agricultural challenges - such as the decline of pollinators."

The study was published in the journal Scientific Reports.