Market2026 in paleoentomology
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2026 in paleoentomology

This paleoentomology list records new fossil insect taxa that were announced or described during the year 2026, as well as notes other significant paleoentomology discoveries and events which occurred during the year.

Clade Amphiesmenoptera
Lepidopterans Trichopterans ==Clade Antliophora==
Clade Antliophora
Dipterans Brachycerans Nematocerans Dipteran research • Revision of members of the genus Prohercostomus from the Baltic amber is published by Grichanov (2026). • Grichanov (2026) reports the discovery of a male of Medeterites latipennis from the Baltic amber, and provides a key to species belonging to the genus Medeterites. ==Clade Archaeorthoptera==
Clade Archaeorthoptera
Orthoptera Orthopteran research • Schall, Kotthoff & Husemann (2026) revise Letoelcana artemisapollonque and Trigonelca jennywinterae, confirming them to be valid taxa, and interpret Paraxelcana coronakanthodis as a junior synonym of Adelphellca zhengi, resulting in a new combination Paraxelcana zhengi. • Nunes & Carvalho (2026) study the morphology and taphonomy of elcanid fossils from the Lower Cretaceous Crato Formation (Brazil), interpret the studied insects as living close to the lake margins, and report possible evidence of camouflage in the studied specimens. ==Clade Coleopterida==
Clade Coleopterida
Coleopterans Adephaga Archostemata Polyphaga Bostrichiformia Cucujiformia Elateriformia Scarabaeiformia Staphyliniformia Coleopteran research • Liu et al. (2026) report the discovery of a specialized Pachyteles-like beetle larva from the Cretaceous amber from Myanmar, with a morphology interpreted by the authors as suggestive of adaptations to ambush predation strategy and to phragmotic defense. • Linhart et al. (2026) provide new information on the mouthpart morphology of Partisaniferus edjarzembowskii, and interpret members of the genus Partisaniferus as likely to be larvae of elateroid beetles with affinities with the families Jurasaidae and Cerophytidae. • Linhart et al. (2026) describe 45 new specimens of soldier beetle larvae from the Cretaceous amber from Myanmar and from the Eocene Baltic amber, and find no evidence of a significant loss of morphological diversity of larvae of members of this group throughout its evolutionary history. • Haug et al. (2026) identify a new morphotype of click beetle larvae from the Cretaceous amber from amber, characterized by long setae on its body. • Li et al. (2026) revise the affinities of Angimordella burmitina, interpreting it as more likely to be a member of Apotomourinae than a relative of extant pollen-feeding specialists from the subfamily Mordellinae, and interpret its interactions with contemporaneous flowering plants as more likely to be occasional rather than obligate. • Ferreira et al. (2026) provide new divergence time estimates for bark beetles, and find that different dating methodologies all indicate that the group diversified before the Cretaceous Terrestrial Revolution. • Rosas et al. (2026) report the discovery of a diverse assemblage of beetle fossils of probable Neogene age from a new site near the town of Penrose in the Southern Highlands (New South Wales, Australia). ==Clade Dictyoptera==
Clade Dictyoptera
Dictyopteran research • Ianni et al. (2026) report the discovery of a hindwing of a roachoid belonging to the family Spiloblattinidae from the Carboniferous (Moscovian) strata of the San Giorgio Basin, representing the first fossil insect formally described from Sardinia and the oldest insect fossil from Italy reported to date. • Redescription of the anatomy of Archimylacris acadica, based on data from a new specimen from the Carboniferous (Moscovian) Sunbury Creek Formation (New Brunswick, Canada), is published by Schneider et al. (2026). • Rea, Simpson & Wizevich (2026) study a sample of the ichnofossil Eopolis ekdalei from the Brushy Basin Member of the Morrison Formation (Utah, United States) preserved with plant, insect and fungal remains interpreted as suggesting that Eopolis ekdalei was produced by termite, as well as suggestive of fungal farming by termites during the Late Jurassic. • Philippe et al. (2026) report the discovery of termine coprolites in a silicified driftwood piece from the Albian strata from the Valdrôme site (France), and argue that dispersal of termites might have been aided by driftwood carried by the sea as early as the Cretaceous period. ==Hymenopterans==
Hymenopterans
Symphyta Apocrita Apoidea Apoid research • A study on the morphology and phylogenetic relationships of extant stingless bees, Proplebeia dominicana and the tribe Melikertini is published by Lepeco & Almeida (2026). Ceraphronoidea Chrysidoidea Diaprioidea Evanioidea Formicoidea Formicoidea research • De la Fuente & Estrada-Peña (2026) report cases of inclusions of remains of ants and other organisms (other arthropods, plants and a land snail) in pieces of Dominican amber, Baltic amber and Cretaceous amber from Myanmar, providing evidence of coexistence of plants with other organisms (including possible evidence of commensalism, phoresis and parasitism) since the Cretaceous. • Boudinot et al. (2026) redescribe an ant in Eocene Baltic amber from the collection of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe which was identified as specimen of Ctenobethylus C by Mayr 1868. Boudinot et al. interpret the species as a senior synonym of Eldermyrmex exsectus Dubovikoff & Dlussky, 2019, and extrapolate the ants to have been the dominant arborial ant species for Temperate coniferous Eocene forests. • Zharkov et al. (2026) study the composition of fossil assemblages of several organisms including ants within pieces of the Eocene Baltic amber, and report evidence of distinct interaction clusters of Ctenobethylus goepperti and Lasius schiefferdeckeri, interpreted as likely linked to divergent ecological strategies of the studied ants. • Radchenko & Ribbecke (2026) report the discovery of a probable soldier of Drymomyrmex fuscipennis from the Eocene Baltic amber, providing evidence of worker caste dimorphism in members of the genus Drymomyrmex, interpret the studied specimen as evidence of phragmotic behavior in Eocene ants, and propose to assign Drymomyrmex to the tribe Lasiini. Ichneumonoidea Stephanoidea Vespoidea Other Apocrita ==Clade Neuropterida==
Clade Neuropterida
Neuropterans Neuropteran research • Makarkin (2026) raises neuropteran subfamily Cretanallachiinae to the rank of a separate family Cretanallachiidae, interpreted as likely related to Dilaridae or ithonoid-like taxa. • Braga et al. (2026) redescribe the holotype specimen of Pulchroptilonia espatifata. ==Clade Palaeoptera==
Clade Palaeoptera
Ephemeropterans Odonatopterans Odonatopteran research • Archibald et al. (2026) interpret Shundeagrion cheni as a member of Cephalozygoptera belonging to the family Dysagrionidae. • Huang et al. (2026) report the discovery of a forewing of Aeshna sp. from the strata of the Qaidam Basin (northeastern Tibetan Plateau; China), interpreted as indicative of presence of a warm freshwater ecosystem during the Miocene. ==Clade Paraneoptera==
Clade Paraneoptera
Hemipterans Auchenorrhyncha Heteroptera Sternorrhyncha Hemipteran research • Haug et al. (2026) report the discovery of a group of wax-bearing (likely for defensive purposes) immatures of scale insects in a piece of Cretaceous Kachin amber (Myanmar) that also preserved an adult rove beetle and an aphidlion-like larva which might have been predators of scale insects. • A specimen of Auritibicen cf. flammatus representing the largest well-preserved cicadid fossil reported to date is described from the Pleistocene (Chibanian) Miyajima Formation (Japan) by Aiba & Hayashi (2026). Permopsocida • Li et al. (2026) study the wing shape evolution in Permopsocida, reporting evidence of a bottleneck coinciding with the Permian–Triassic extinction event and structural constraints limiting aerodynamic innovation in the aftermath of this extinction, as well as evidence linking changes of morphological diversity of wings of Permopsocida to changes of diversity of gymnosperm plants. ==Plecopterans==
Other insects
Other insect research • A small insect specimen (possibly a larva of a member of Holometabola) with an undifferentiated abdomen including eleven segments, representing a morphology different from all extant insects but similar to hypothesized character set of the ancestral insect form, is described from the Permian strata from the Meisenheim Formation (Saar–Nahe Basin, Germany) by Haug et al. (2026). • Lai & Huang (2026) report the discovery of a forewing of Sinosepididontus shartegicus from the Jurassic Haifanggou Formation (China), extending known geographical range of the species (originally described from the Shar Teeg Beds in Mongolia) and supporting the biotic link between faunas from the localities preserving its fossils. ==General research==
General research
• Snelling et al. (2026) argue that diffusive oxygen transport through the tracheolar–muscle system of insects was not a factor constraining the maximum body size of insects throughout their evolutionary history, including the evolution of body size of large extinct insects such as Meganeuropsis permiana. • Negri & Toledo (2026) review evidence of mutualistic relationships between insects and gymnosperms before the emergence of flowering plants. • Stahlecker et al. (2026) describe new insect larvae with megalopteran-like morphology from the Triassic strata from Grès à Voltzia (France), from the Cretaceous amber from Myanmar and from the Eocene Baltic amber, and interpret the larval "morphotype 4" identified in the study of Baranov et al. (2022) as more likely representing larvae of myxophagan beetles than megalopterans. • Haug et al. (2026) report the discovery of diverse immature insect specimens from the Cretaceous amber from Myanmar preserved with evidence of disruptive coloration in the form of stripes on their legs. • Kiesmüller et al. (2026) report the discovery of a braconid wasp and the first known silvanid beetle larva preserved within a piece of the Baltic amber. == References ==
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