'Blind dates' in the amber world
Thursday, October 6, 2016 - 08:42
in Paleontology & Archaeology
"Old" doesn't always have to mean "primitive." Paleontologists have discovered a tiny biting midge no larger than one millimeter in 54 million-year-old amber. The insect possesses a vesicular structure at the front edge of the wings. The researchers assume that these "pockets" were used by the female midge to collect store and spray disseminate pheromones in an unusually efficient way in order to attract sexual partners. Today's biting midges use significantly simpler attractant evaporators structures for pheromone release on their abdomen.