Researchers in New Zealand have uncovered a collection of remarkable fossilised insects so tiny they are almost invisible to the naked eye.
Preserved in stunning detail, these fossils provide a unique glimpse into the biodiversity of the South Pacific islands millions of years ago.
The whiteflies, each about 1.5mm by 1.25mm in size, were unearthed in sediments from the Miocene period at Hindon Maar, a crater lake near Dunedin.
What makes this discovery truly extraordinary, say the researchers – who published their work in the journal Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments – is the way the whiteflies have been preserved.
The fossils were found attached to the underside of a fossilised leaf, in the very position they would have lived and died. Their oval-shaped black bodies, while bearing similarities to modern whiteflies in form and colour, display distinct features such as deeply defined body segments.
"Fossils of adult whitefly insects are not uncommon, but it takes extraordinary circumstances for the puparia – the protective shell the insect emerges from – to become fossilised," explains co-author of the study Dr Uwe Kaulfuss, who uncovered the fossils earlier this year during an excavation at Hindon Maar.
"Some 15 million years ago, the leaf with the puparia must have become detached from a tree, blown into the small lake and sank to the deep lake floor to be covered by sediment and become fossilised. It must have happened in rapid succession as the tiny insect fossils are exquisitely preserved.”
Professor Daphne Lee of Otago’s Department of Geology, who co-authored the study, highlights the significance of this discovery: "These little fossils are the first of their kind to be found in New Zealand and only the third example of such fossil puparia known globally. The fact that they are still in life position on the leaf is incredible and extremely rare.”
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Treasures of Otago
The discovery adds to the rapidly growing catalogue of insect fossils from the Otago region. Until two decades ago, only seven pre-Ice Age insect fossils were known in New Zealand; that number has since soared to 750.
These treasures, housed at the Otago Geology Department, underscore the vital role insects played in ancient ecosystems.
“There are 14,000 insects in New Zealand and 90 per cent are found nowhere else in the world,” says Professor Lee.
"While most people are drawn to big, charismatic fossils, it’s important to remember that most animals in forests are insects. New discoveries like this allow us to appreciate their significance in understanding New Zealand’s forest ecosystems and biodiversity.”
Find out more about the study: First Miocene whiteflies and psyllids (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha: Aleyrodoidea and Psylloidea) from Aotearoa New Zealand
Main image: A close-up of two tiny, whitefly puparia/Drohojowska et al.
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