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Bibionidae (Diptera) from the late Miocene of Hrútagil (Mókollsdalur), Iceland

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Abstract

Here we describe fossil Bibionidae (Diptera) insects from the late Miocene Hrútagil locality (part of the 9–8 Ma Skarðsströnd–Mókollsdalur formation) in Iceland. This material offers a rare chance to study a fossil insect fauna from a North Atlantic oceanic island. The material includes three species, one from each genera of Bibio, Dilophus and Penthetria, but only the former is sufficiently well preserved to warrant description as a new taxon, Bibio edda sp. nov., most superficially similar to B. brevis Heer, 1849 but differs in wing and tibial characters, among others. Finally, we compare the species to other fossil Bibionidae known from the Miocene of continental Europe.

Kurzfassung

Erstmals werden fossile Bibionidae (Insecta: Diptera) aus dem oberen Miozän von Island (Skarðsströnd–Mókollsdalur-Formation, Hrútagil) detailliert beschrieben. Diese bieten die seltene Chance, die fossile Bibioniden-Fauna einer ozeanischen Insel zu studieren. Das Material umfaßt drei Arten, jeweils aus den Gattungen Bibio, Dilophus und Penthetria, wobei aber nur das Material zu ersterer ausreichend gut erhalten ist, um die Beschreibung eines neuen Taxons – Bibio edda sp. nov. – zu rechtfertigen, und die neue Art der aus Öhningen beschriebenen Art B. brevis Heer, 1849 sehr ähnelt, sich aber vornehmlich in Flügeladerungs- und Tibialdornendetails, unterscheidet. Abschließend werden die vorliegenden Arten mit fossilen Bibionidae aus anderen europäischen Miozän-Fundstellen verglichen.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Icelandic Institute (Museum) of Natural History. We are grateful to M. Hallsdóttir for helping with accessing the IMNH database and fossil collections. Furthermore, we are grateful to Bo Wang, Mike Reich, and an anonymous reviewer for their comments which helped to improve the final version.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. NLA University College Bergen, Sandviken, P.O. Box 74, 5812, Bergen, Norway

    John Skartveit

  2. Icelandic Institute of Natural History, Urriðaholtsstræti 6-8, 212, Garðabær, Iceland

    Friðgeir Grímsson

  3. Steinmann Institut für Geologie, Mineralogie, Paläontologie, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms Universität Bonn, Bonn, Germany

    Torsten Wappler

  4. Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany

    Torsten Wappler

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  1. John Skartveit
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Correspondence to John Skartveit.

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Handling editor: Mike Reich.

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Skartveit, J., Grímsson, F. & Wappler, T. Bibionidae (Diptera) from the late Miocene of Hrútagil (Mókollsdalur), Iceland. PalZ 91, 195–205 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12542-017-0341-0

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