This Fossil Bug Discovered in Baltic Amber Looks Remarkably Like a Mantis

The study of a 30-million-year-old block of amber has revealed a lacewing fossil that has large eyes and four long wings, but with grasping or raptorial legs that make it look like a praying mantis.

Unless you are a lacewing expert, you might not know that these insects have a long history of resembling the praying mantis. It is the result of convergent evolution, where two organisms evolve similar traits because they are adapting to the same conditions.

The fossil records of the mantis lacewings go back over 100 million years. This is the first adult lacewing fossil recovered from the current geological era.

The first adult of Mantispidae from Baltic amber is reported in a paper by the researchers.

A covering of white film is common in Baltic amber fossils, so it is hard to be sure if the fossil is a new species or an old one. A question mark has been put on the new species to acknowledge the uncertainty.

The specimen was studied through a combination of techniques including X-ray microtomography, where X-rays are used to build up a cross-section and 3D model of an organisms.

The insect is depicted in 3D. The Fossil Record is a book by Baranov and his team.

The research raises a number of questions about the evolution of the Mantispidae over the past 66 million years, and why so few of them have been preserved.

The researchers write that the comparisons serve as a proxy for the breadth of ecologies and predatory behaviors within the Mantispidae.

The Baltic amber deposits date back more than 34 million years ago when the region was warm and humid. It is unlikely that inhospitable conditions were the reason for so few lacewings being left.

The researchers noticed a decrease in the diversity of mantis lacewing legs after the extinction of the dinosaurs. It is possible that this shows a lack of diversity in the species and a less abundant population. The shape of these insects has never recovered.

It is not the first time that we have been able to learn more about this group of insects from their remains, as scientists continue to make intriguing discoveries from the time machines that are amber.

The record presented here shows a decline in the diversity of the Mantispidae over the course of the Cenozoic.

The research has been published.