Ugolyakia kaluginae gen. et sp. nov. is described from Ugolyak (Santonian Taimyr amber), based primarily on its unbranched Rs and developed katepisternal sulcus. It is attributed to the tribe Simuliini, although it lacks calcipala and spiniform seta on the costal vein characteristic of most genera of the tribe. Possession of a claw with a large subbasal tooth and absence of significant sclerotization of the sternites suggest that U.kaluginae females were blood-sucking avian parasites. Black flies make up 3% of all insect inclusions and 5% of all identifiable dipterans in Ugolyak amber. Only two Late Cretaceous black fly specimens were previously known. Feathers found at nearly all Cretaceous black fly sites (and at all formations with records of Simuliini) were younger than the Hauterivian. Ugolyak black flies are thought to have inhabited the same environments as Cretaceous ornithurine birds and most likely fed on them. These insects can then be used as an indicator of this bird community, allowing a better understanding of the Late Cretaceous forest ecology of Northern Asia. The inferred presence of Ornithuromorpha at high latitudes by the Early Cretaceous implies that their high growth rate may have evolved as an adaptation to a short yearly period of productivity (probably as a compensation for the poor light ability of their young). This further implies that advanced ornithuromorphs might have originated at higher latitudes; later, aquatic ornithuromorphs occupied niches in lower latitude regions with tropical climates such as the Chinese Jehol biota, to which they were preadapted. The inferred seasonality at higher latitudes during cold spells of the Early Cretaceous could further be viewed as a prerequisite for the evolutionary origin of the granivory.
We synonymize Hellichiella pugach Perkovsky & sukhomlin, 2015 with Gre niera yankovskyi Perkovsky & sukhomlin, 2015 (stegopterniini) based on the holotype and female paratype of H. pugach (stegopterniini). Hellichiella po lessica n. sp. differs from Hellichiella oligocenica (rubtsov, 1936) (the only species of Hellichiella known in Baltic amber) by its smaller body, narrower head, 11-segmented antenna, greater number of upper corneal facets, cylindrical metabasitarsus, and narrowed gonostylus. Our findings show three species of blackflies in Rovno amber: Greniera ukrainica Perkovsky & sukhomlin, 2015 and G. yankovskyi Perkovsky & sukhomlin, 2015 (stegopterniini) and Hel li chi ella polessica n. sp. (nevermanniini). KeywORds: rovno amber, eocene, simuliidae, Hellichiella, blackflies.
The blackfly Simuliites yantardakh sp. nov. from the Taimyr amber is described. It is distinguished from the only known Late Cretaceous blackfly from the New Jersey amber Archicnephia ornithoraptor Currie et Grimaldi by the twice larger size, the short pubescent antenna, only slightly expanded antennomeres 1 and 2; the small palpomere 3, which is 1.5 times as wide as palpomere 4; and the shorter mouth appendages.
Three new simuliine species, Greniera ukrainica sp. nov., G. yankovskyi sp. nov., and Hellichiella pugach sp. nov., are described from the Rovno amber. Both new species of Greniera are assigned to the fabri species group and differ from the other species of this group in R-2 not incrassated in the distal part of the wing, calcipala small, and second palpomere large. H. pugach differs from the only other Eocene congener H. oligocenica (Rubtsov, 1936) in the smaller body, narrower head, 11-segmented antenna, a greater number of rows of upper corneal facets, metabasitarsus cylindrical, and gonostyli narrowed (not boot-shaped).
