Cretaceogaster

Grimaldi, David A., Arillo, Antonio, Cumming, Jeffrey M. & Hauser, Martin, 2011, Brachyceran Diptera (Insecta) in Cretaceous ambers, Part IV, Significant New Orthorrhaphous Taxa, ZooKeys 148, pp. 293-332 : 294

Genus Cretaceogaster

Cretaceogaster Teskey 1971: 1660. Type species: Cretaceogaster pygmaeus Teskey 1971: 1660; Woodley 1986 (redescription, placement); Grimaldi and Cumming 1999: 17-19 (redescription, new specimens).

Cretaceogaster pygmaeus Teskey 1971: 1660.

Remarks.

We were able to study two additional specimens of this very primitive genus of stratiomyid, both in Canadian amber collected by Ted Pike from Grassy Lake, Alberta (Campanian) ( Pike 1995), housed in the RTMP.

RTMP 96.9.1117: Amber is a typical clear, dark yellow with reddish flow lines; it also contains a small spider. The piece is a cylindrical runnel 12 × 4 × 2 mm, with the fly preserved near the middle, which was embedded in epoxy at the AMNH and trimmed to 9 × 13 × 4 mm (including epoxy) for better observation. The fly is laterally very flattened, especially the thorax, and is a male (though details of the genitalia are not observable). Unfortunately, the apex of the mid tibia cannot be observed in detail, so the apparent absence of tibial spurs is uncertain. Wing is slightly distended in length, but otherwise the venation is very similar to Cretaceogaster pygmaeus .

RTMP 96.9.1230: Fly is also preserved in a cylindrical runnel of amber, 7 × 3 (diam.) mm, and embedded in epoxy for careful trimming. The fly is lying at the rounded end of the runnel, with its dorsal surface against the surface of the flow. The thorax is partly decayed and wing venation is obscured. The antenna and mouthparts are visible in ventral view. Specimen is a male, but its genitalic details are also not observable. Mid tibia appears to have a small apical spur, contrary to the original description of the species but in agreement with Woodley (1986: 380).