Thripidae and Melanthripidae from the mid-Cretaceous (Insecta: Thysanoptera)

The thrips diversity preserved in Kachin amber is remarkably high, with numerous new species awaiting discovery. In this paper, two new species of Thripidae: Euthythrips longialatus gen. et sp. nov. and Minythrips exquisitus gen. et sp. nov., plus five new species of Melanthripidae: Aspistothrips fortis gen. et sp. nov., Aspistothrips decorus sp. nov., Areiothrips bellator gen. et sp. nov., Charismathrips longiantennatus gen. et sp. nov., Charismathrips exaridus sp. nov., are systematically described, expanding the fossil record of Thysanoptera from Kachin amber. Through comparative morphological analyses of fossil taxa, we propose that two characters likely represent plesiomorphic traits of Thysanoptera: nine antennomeres and duplicated cilia arranged parallel to regular fringe cilia. By synthesizing existing research on thrips environmental interactions, this study briefly analyzes the adaptive evolution of thrips during floral ecosystem turnover.