ArticleBMC evolutionary biology2019
Fossil amber reveals springtails' longstanding dispersal by social insects.
Article in BMC evolutionary biology, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
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6 citing papers in PubMed, 22 citations in OpenAlex.
- The oldest continuous association between astigmatid mites and termites preserved in Cretaceous amber reveals the evolutionary significance of phoresy.BMC ecology and evolution · 2025Article
- Extinct and extant termites reveal the fidelity of behavior fossilization in amber.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
- Article
- The oldest case of paedomorphosis in rove beetles and description of a new genus of Paederinae from Cretaceous amber (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae).Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Necrophagy by insects in Oculudentavis and other lizard body fossils preserved in Cretaceous amber.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Mitogenome selection in the evolution of key ecological strategies in the ancient hexapod class Collembola.Scientific reports · 2022Article
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3 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundDispersal is essential for terrestrial organisms living in disjunct habitats and constitutes a significant challenge for the evolution of wingless taxa. Springtails (Collembola), the sister-group of all insects (with Diplura), are reported since the Lower Devonian and are thought to have originally been subterranean. The order Symphypleona is reported since the early Cretaceous with genera distributed on every continent. This distribution implies an ability to disperse over oceans, however symphypleonan Collembola have never been reported in marine water contrary to other springtail orders. Despite being highly widespread, modern springtails are rarely reported in any kind of biotic association. Interestingly, the fossil record has provided occasional occurrences of Symphypleona attached by the antennae onto the bodies of larger arthropods.
resultsHere, we document the case of a ~ 16 Ma old fossil association: a winged termite and ant displaying not some, but 25 springtails attached or in close proximity to the body. The collembola exhibit rare features for fossils, reflecting their courtship and phoretic behaviours. By observing the modes of attachment of springtails on different arthropods, the sex representation and ratios in springtail antennal anatomies in new and previously reported cases, we infer a likely mechanism for dispersal in Symphypleona. By revealing hidden evidence of modern springtail associations with other invertebrates such as ants and termites, new compelling assemblages of fossil springtails, and the drastic increase of eusocial insects' abundance during the Cenozoic (ants/termites comprising more than a third of insects in Miocene amber), we stress that attachment on winged castes of ants and termites may have been a mechanism for the worldwide dispersal of this significant springtail lineage. Moreover, by comparing the general constraints applying to the other wingless soil-dwelling arthropods known to disperse through phoresy, we suggest biases in the collection and observation of phoretic Symphypleona related to their reflexive detachment and infer that this behaviour continues today.
conclusionsThe specific case of tree resin entrapment represents the (so far) only condition uncovering the phoretic dispersal mechanism of springtails - one of the oldest terrestrial arthropod lineages living today.
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