First discovery of the Coccoidea (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha) from the Siwalik sediments (Middle Miocene) of Darjeeling foothills, Eastern Himalaya, India

摘要

Two females of scale insects (Hemiptera. Coecoidea) on a Moraceae leal are recorded from the Miocene sediments of India. Evidences of plant-insect association and interactions in the past have opened a new view in the field of evolutionary biology. Records of such interactions mostly occur as mine or bite marks (BERRY 1916, 1930, SMILEY et al. 1975, CRANE & JARZEMBOWSKI 1980, ROZEFELDS 1988, LABANDEIRA et al. 1994, KRASSILOV 2003), as foliar galls (BROOKS 1955; SRIVASTAVA & SRIVATSAVA 1998), as mitehouses on leaf surface (O'Down et a!. 1991) as well as inclusions in amber (KoTEJA 2000). The insect trace fossils as well as their meaning, content and nomenclature have been recently reviewed by ZHERIKHIN (2002, 2003). Such evidences are commonly recorded from Palaeogene and Neogene deposits of different parts of the world. The present article deals with two, compressed fossil scale insects (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha: Coccoidea) preserved on the median vein of a fossil dicotyledonous leaf. In addition, marks of insect — mining traces also are noted on the leaf surface. In situ, occurrence of coccoid as body fossil on fossil plant organ is rare and the present report is the first of its kind from the Indian subcontinent. Earlier records of similar