The false click beetles (Coleoptera: Elateroidea: Eucnemidae) of the Dominican Republic. Part I: A look into the past

Abstract

Thirteen new fossil eucnemid taxa (Coleoptera: Elateroidea) are described from amber deposits excavated from the vicinity of Santiago, Dominican Republic. Two new genera, Mioxylobius and Paleoquirsfeldia are described. The following 13 new species are described from Dominican amber: Mioxylobius bicolor, Balistica serrulata, Paleoquirsfeldia epicrana, Dyscharachthis dominicana, Idiotarsus poinari, Euryptychus antilliensis, Euryptychus hispaniolus, Plesiofornax caribica, Fornax dominicensis, Fornax serropalpoides, Dromaeolus argenteus, Nematodes miocenensis and Nematodes thoracicus. Each new species are both diagnosed and illustrated. Calyptocerus Guérin-Méneville and Lissantauga Poinar are shown to be congeneic, resulting in a new combination: Calyptocerus epicranis (Poinar, 2013). Summaries of fossil eucnemid discoveries, highlighting differing hypothesis of prehistoric Caribbean island formations/speciation, accounts of ancient Dominican Republic environmental conditions and Dominican Republic amber are provided.