Pseudopolycentropodidae

Pseudopolycentropodidae is an extinct family of scorpionflies known from the Mesozoic. Fossils are known from the Middle Triassic (Anisian) to the early Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian). It is part of Mesopsychoidea, a group of scorpionflies with siphonate proboscis. They are suggested to have been nectarivores, feeding off the liquid pollination drops and acting as pollinators for now extinct insect pollinated gymnosperms such as Bennettitales.[1][2]

Pseudopolycentropodidae
Temporal range: Anisian–Cenomanian
Paratype of Dualula
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Mecoptera
Superfamily: Mesopsychoidea
Family: Pseudopolycentropodidae
Handlirsch, 1920
Genera
Synonyms

Dualulidae Lin, Shih, Labandeira and Ren, 2019

Systematics

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References

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  1. ^ Zhao X, Wang B, Bashkuev AS, Aria C, Zhang Q, Zhang H, et al. (March 2020). "Mouthpart homologies and life habits of Mesozoic long-proboscid scorpionflies". Science Advances. 6 (10): eaay1259. Bibcode:2020SciA....6.1259Z. doi:10.1126/sciadv.aay1259. PMC 7056314. PMID 32181343.
  2. ^ Lin X, Labandeira CC, Shih C, Hotton CL, Ren D (March 2019). "Life habits and evolutionary biology of new two-winged long-proboscid scorpionflies from mid-Cretaceous Myanmar amber". Nature Communications. 10 (1): 1235. Bibcode:2019NatCo..10.1235L. doi:10.1038/s41467-019-09236-4. PMC 6420582. PMID 30874563.