New Flea Genus and Species Discovered in Amber
Posted on September 15, 2015
A new flea genus and species has been discovered in amber. The fossilized flea was found in the West Indies by Oregon State University entomologist Dr. George Poinar, Jr.
Dr. Poinar describes the basic characteristics of the previously unknown flea as very strange. He named the genus Atopopsyllus, which means "strange flea" in Greek. The flea species has been named Atopopsyllus cionus.
Dr. Poinar says some of the flea's unusual features cannot be found "on any other flea, fossil or extant." The flea has five-segmented maxillary palps instead of four. It also has a structure similar to cerci. Cerci are sensory appendages found on the abdomen of some insects.
Dr. Poinar says, "I couldn't find anything like that in present-day fleas except in the female. That fascinated me, that this male would have a structure similar to that. I don't know if it's homologous. All I can say is that it's there, it's in the same place that the female's structure is."
Microorganisms were also found in the flea. These include a bacteria that has the characteristics of plague bacteria.
A research paper on the ancient flea can be found here in the journal, Journal of Medical Entomology.