Mesozoic larva in amber reveals the venom delivery system and the palaeobiology of an ancient lineage of venomous insects (Neuroptera)

Abstract

The larvae of Neuroptera are predators that feed by injecting bioactive compounds into their prey and then suctioning the fluids through modified mouthparts. We explore the evolutionary history of this feeding structure through the examination of a new fossil larva preserved in Late Cretaceous Kachin amber, which we describe as new genus and species, Electroxipheus veneficus gen et sp. nov. X-ray phase-contrast microtomography enabled us to study the anatomy of the larva in 3D, including the structure of the mouthparts and that of the venom delivery system. The specimen exhibited a unique combination of morphological traits not found in any known fossil or extant lacewing, including an unusual structure of the antenna. Phylogenetic analyses, incorporating a selection of living and fossil larval Neuroptera and enforcing maximum parsimony and Bayesian inference, identified the larva as belonging to the stem group Mantispoidea. The larva shows that the anatomy of the feeding and venom-delivery apparatus has remained unchanged in Neuroptera from the Cretaceous to the present. The morphology of the specimen suggests that it was an active predator, in contrast with the scarcely mobile, specialized relatives, like mantispids and berothids.