Life in the Cretaceous Undergrowth

When most paleo fans think of ideas for a Mesozoic documentary, they just cycle through various theropods and their possible prey animals. But if they'd ever look at documentaries of modern nature, they would see that ecosystems come in all sizes. This cast is inspired by the BBC documentary "Life in the Undergrowth" and features a vast array of animals from the 99 million year old amber forest of Myanmar. The only Burmese amber most paleo fans seem to care about is a piece of a dinosaur tail that doesn't really tell us anything about its owner. But this cast list focuses on the many many different arthropods that should be more well-known; at least for fans of extinct arthropods that want to go beyond Meganeura and Arthropleura. Many of the amber encased taxa are so perfectly preserved that their lifestyle can be inferred by comparisons to their modern relatives. We have not only predators and herbivores, but even parasites and symbionts. 

Cretosynstrophus archaicus: A 3.42 mm long fungus eating beetle of the family Tetratomidae. This beetle represents the very bottom of the food chain in the amber forest. Traced over a photograph of the fossil from the following paper:
Cai, C., Hsiao, Y. & Huang, D. 2016. A new genus and species of polypore fungus beetle in Upper Cretaceous Burmese amber (Coleoptera, Tetratomidae, Eustrophinae). Cretaceous Research, 60, 275-280.

Aptenoperissus burmanicus: A 3.6 mm long parasitoid wasp of the new family Aptenoperissidae. The hosts of this wingless jumping wasp were probably beetle larvae. The wasp itself can be host of several different species of ectoparasitic fungi if you want to go down that rabbit hole. Traced over this reconstruction: www.geocities.co.jp/NatureLand…

Cretostylops engeli: A 1.5 mm long Strepsipteran. The females spend their entire lives as larvae-like parasites inside a host with only their head poking out. The flying males track down the females with their complex eyes and antennae and impregnate them. Their hosts are wasps. Traced over a reconstruction from the following paper:
Grimaldi, D.A., Kathirithamby, J. & Schawaroch, V. 2005. Strepsiptera and triungula in Cretaceous amber. Insect Systematics & Evolution, 36, 1-20.

Ceratomyrmex ellenbergeri: A 5.9 mm long ant of the subfamily Sphecomyrminae. These ants prey on anything they can cling between their trap-jaws and their sensitive horn. Traced over a reconstruction from the following paper:
Perrichot, V., Wang, B. & Engel, M.S. 2016. Extreme morphogenesis and ecological specialization among Cretaceous basal ants. Current Biology, 26(11), 1468-1472.

Geratonephila burmanica: A 3.12 mm long orb-weaving spider. It should be noted that is just the size of the male, the female was likely much larger. They feed on any small insect that gets entangled in their web. Traced over this reconstruction of a modern Nephila: www.floridanature.org/photos/N…

Pedanoptera arachnophila: A 7.8 mm long neuropteran. The imago and the 3.6 mm long larva have very long legs that may have helped them to walk over spider webs without getting stuck, making them specialized predators of spiders. Traced over a reconstruction from the following paper:
Liu, X., Zhang, W., Winterton, S.L., Breitkreuz, L.C.V. & Engel, M.S. 2016. Early morphological specialization for insect-spider associations in Mesozoic lacewings. Current Biology, 26, 1590- 1594.

Echinosomiscus primoticus: A 7.9 mm long thorny stick insect. Like modern stick insects it was probably herbivorous. Traced over a photograph of the fossil from the following paper:
Engel, M.S., Wang, B. & Alqarni, A.S. 2016. A thorny, ‘anareolate’ stick-insect (Phasmatidae s.l.) in Upper Cretaceous amber from Myanmar, with remarks on diversification times among Phasmatodea). Cretaceous Research, 63, 45-53.

Manipulator modificaputis: A predatory cockroach with 8.3 mm long forewings. Like a praying mantis this insect preyed on anything it could catch with its forelegs. Traced over this reconstruction by www.deviantart.com/art/Thats-w…

Ginormotermes rex: A massive termite with 20 mm long soldiers. Because of their size and numbers they barely have to fear anything. These herbivores grow fungus gardens in their nests. Traced over a reconstruction from the following paper:
Engel, M.S., Barden, P., Riccio, M.L. & Grimaldi, D.A. 2016. Morphologically specialized termite castes and advanced sociality in the Early Cretaceous. Current Biology, 26(4), 522-530.

Cretotrichopsenius burmiticus: A 2 mm long beetle of the family Staphylinidae. This termitophile spends its entire life inside a termite nest where it feeds on their fungus gardens. Traced over a reconstruction from the following paper:
Cai., C., Huang, D., Newton, A.F. & Eldredge, T. & Engel, M.S. 2017. Early evolution of specialized termitophily in Cretaceous rove beetles. Current Biology, 27, 1-7.

Linguatormyia teletacta: An 8.92 mm long flower-visiting fly. Its proboscis is almost half its body length and its antennae are more than 1.6 times its body length. These flies represent the diversity of flower-visiting insects before hymenopterans dominated that niche. Traced over a reconstruction from the following paper:
Arillo, A., Peñalver, Fuente, R. P. de la, Delclós, X., Criscione, J., Barden, P.M., Riccio, M.L. & Grimaldi, D.A. 2015. Long-proboscid brachyceran flies in Cretaceous amber (Diptera: Stratiomyomorpha: Zhangsolvidae). Systematic Entomology, 40, 242-267.

Fiaponeura penghiani: A 7.86 mm long neuropteran with 11.59 mm long forewings. While many neuropterans are predators, this insect feeds on nectar. With a comparatively short proboscis it either pollinated Bennettitales or small early angiosperms. Traced over a reconstruction from the following paper:
Lu, X.M., Zhang, W.W., Liu, X.Y. 2016a. New long-proboscid lacewings of the mid-Cretaceous provide insights into ancient plant-pollinator interactions. Scientific Reports, 6(25382), 1-12.

Yijenplatycnemis huangi: A damselfly with 14 mm long wings. Males of these aerial predators have flags on their legs which they use during courtship. Traced over a reconstruction from the following paper:
Zheng, D., Nel, A., Jarzembowski, E.A., Chang, S.-C. Zhang, H., Xia, F., Liu, H. & Wang, B. 2017. Extreme adaptations for probable visual courtship behaviour in a Cretaceous dancing damselfly. Scientific Reports, 7(44932), 1-8.

Wathondara kotejai: A 6 mm long scale insect. This hemipteran sucks plant juice and shields itself with a wax covering. It also carries around an egg sac to protect its young. Traced over a reconstruction from the following paper:
Wang, B., Xia, F., Wappler, T., Simon, E., Zhang, H., Jarzembowski, E.A. & Szwedo, J. 2015. Brood care in a 100-million-year-old scale insect. eLife, 4(e05447), 1-8.

Alienopterus brachyelytrus: A 14.5 mm long insect related to mantises and cockroaches that is classified in its own entirely new order Alienoptera. Since its legs are much weaker than those of a mantis it preys on very small insects. Traced over a reconstruction from the following paper:
Bai, M., Beutel, R.G., Klass, K.-D., Zhang, W., Yang, X. & Wipfler, B. 2016. †Alienoptera — A new insect order in the roach–mantodean twilight zone. Gondwana Research, 39, 317-326.

Amberathyreus beuteli: An 11.1 mm long beetle of the family Geotrupidae. Dung beetles belong to that group, but it is not known whether this beetle fed on dinosaur dung or detritus in general. Traced over a photograph from the following paper:
Bai, M., Nie, R., Zhang, W., Ren, D., Shih, C. & Yang, X. 2016 (on-line). The first fossil Athyreini beetle (Coleoptera: Geotrupidae). Organisms Diversity & Evolution, 17(1), 157-162.

Zhenia xiai: A 10.2 mm long parasitoid fly. Its eyes are so huge they almost touch each other. Its hosts are various large larvae. Traced over a reconstruction from the following paper:
Grimaldi, D.A. & Barden, P. 2016. The Mesozoic Family Eremochaetidae (Diptera: Brachycera) in Burmese amber and Relationships of Archisargoidea: Brachycera in Cretaceous Amber, Part VIII. American Museum Novitates, No. 3865, 29pp.

Cushingia ellenbergeri: A 13.7 mm long camel spider. This arachnid feeds on anything it can grab with its bulbous chelicerae. Traced over this reconstruction of a modern camel spider: www.solpugid.com/Othoes_hirsti…

Palaeotrilineatus ellenbergeri: A 31.05 mm long scorpion that sits at the top of the food chain among the amber forest arthropods. Traced over a photograph of the actual fossil from the following paper:
Lourenço, W.R. 2012. About the scorpion fossils from the Cretaceous amber of Myanmar (Burma) with the descriptions of a new family, genus and species. Acta Biológica Paranaense, Curitiba, 41 (3- 4), 75-87.

Enantiornithine: An insect-eating basal bird that represents all of the dinosaurs you would see in this documentary. Precocial chicks of these birds occasionally get encased in tree sap. Drawn without reference.