Mitt. Mus. Nat.kd. Berl., Dtsch. entomol. zyxwvutsrq Z. zyxwvutsr 49 (2002) 2, 197-207 20.11.2002 zy The first fossil Bothriocerinae from Eocene Baltic amber with notes on recent taxa (Hemiptera, Fulgoromorpha, Cixiidae) Jacek Szwedol With 14 figures Abstract The first fossil representative of Bothriocerinae (Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha: Cixiidae) from Eocene Baltic amber is descri- bed. This small group is currently distributed only in the New World. The fossil presents the evidence of a wider distribution of this group in the past. Bothriobaltia pietrzeniukae gen. and sp. n. is described and illustrated. Fossil record of the family, paleogeography of the Eocene, distribution pattern, phylogeny and ecology of the group in view of fossil record are discussed. Key words: Bothriobaltia pietrzeniukae gen. and sp. n., Bothriocerinae, Eocene Baltic amber, zoogeography, paleogeography, phylogeny, morphology Introduction Fossil representatives of the family Cixiidae have rarely been described (Szwedo 2002); the repre- sentatives of this family enter the fossil record in the Jurassic (Fennah 1961). Bothriocerinae have not been described from fossil resins yet, with the only exception of an unnamed specimen from Oligocene/Miocene Dominican amber, figured in Schlee (1990). Some other specimens of Bothriocerinae in the same resin are stored in the Natural History Museum, London (A. J. Ross, personal communication). The specimen described below is one of Gustav Carl Berendt’s historic collection, housed in the Palaontologisches Institut der Humboldt-Univer- sitat in Berlin. The subfamily Bothriocerinae is re- garded as one of the oldest groups of Cixiidae planthoppers, displaying, according to Emeljanov (1989), peculiar and primitive characters. Taxonomic note Only two recent genera have been ascribed to the subfamily Bothriocerinae (Emeljanov 1989), but in Wilson et al. (1994) some species repre- senting Cixiinae (species of the genera Achue- menes Stil, Brixiu Stil and Nymphocixiu Van Duzee) are mistakenly listed as belonging to Bothriocerinae. The genus Bothrioceru Burmeister, 1835 com- prises over 40 species. The taxonomic status of some of them is doubtful and needs reconsidera- tion. The most obscure species is Bothrioceru west- woodi (Stil, 1856), described from Mexico. Stil’s (1856) original description is brief and not illu- strated. The first illustration of this species is to be found in Fowler (1904). Specimens ascribed to this species were discussed by Metcalf (1938), who pre- sented drawings of male genitalia, and Caldwell (1943), who discussed the coloration, and inter- preted male genitalia of the forms ascribed to B. westwoodi StAl. According to Kramer (1983) the type is no longer extant, which precludes restudy. The genus Bothriocerettu was established by Caldwell (1950) for the species: nigru (Fowler, 1904) and ulbidipennis (Fowler, 1904). In 1971 Fennah, described the subgenus Adunellu, within the genus Bothrioceru Burmeister, 1835, to which he ascribed the species: ulbidipennis (Fowler, 1904), excelsu (Fowler, 1904), nigru (Fowler, 1904) and pellucidu (Fowler, 1904). Emeljanov (1989) has elevated the status of the subgenus Adunellu to the generic level. Regarding the characters given by Caldwell (1950) and Fennah (1971), the species included by the latter to Adu- zy nellu should be placed in Bothriocerettu. Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Wilcza 64, PL 00-679 Warszawa, Poland. E-mail: szwedo@miiz.waw.pl Received December 2000, accepted January 2002 zyxwvut 0 2002 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH zyxwvu & Co. KGaA, Weinheim 1435-1951/02/0211-0197 $17.50+.50/0