Species of assasin flies who lived in prehistoric times and became extinct found trapped in transparent amber. Male and female flies of the species named Burmapogon bruckschi was discovered in the Hukawng Valley, Myanmar. The species "pogon" name is Greek for beard, and it is often used for flies in the Asilidae family and "bruckschi" because the amber was acquired by an Australian man named Klaus-Peter Brucksch.
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| 100-million-year-old assassin fly found in ancient amber. (Picture from: http://bit.ly/1igzr4O) |
According to the researchers, the specimen size of 2.5 inches and up to 100 million years old. With the discovery of B. bruckschi has added more than 7,500 species of assasin flies that exist now.
Flies that gets its name from the accuracy of their way to kill: after the ambush, assasin flies stabs ekoskeleton of their prey and inject digestive juices so that they can suck the fluid that is in the body of the prey. But small predators that are not immune to the resin. Insects can be trapped in the amber current flowing from tree resin they hinggapi.
Previously, a new history of assasin flies is on the limestone fossils. "Translucent amber stone gives researchers a new window into the ecology of the Cretaceous Period and sheds light on the evolutionary history of the family of flies," said Torsten Dikow, a researcher at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, as quoted by LiveScience. "This ancient flies fossil well preserved so that you can almost imagine they're flying now," he added.
Dikow identify differences B. bruckschi with their relatives who are still alive today. B. bruckschi has a flat antenna, the structure of the V-shaped eyes, spiny hind legs, and fur covering sharp mouth parts.
Species, together with other types of assasin flies named Cretagaster raritanensis, described in the American Museum Novitates journal on April 21, 2014. Both new species identified as a new species. Fossils were found in pieces of amber in New Jersey in 1999. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | LIVESCIENCE]
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