Genus Burmaculex Borkent & Grimaldi, 2004
Burmaculex antiquus Borkent & Grimaldi, 2004.
Subfamily Burmaculicinae. Burmaculex is a small genus of only five currently known extinct (fossil) species. Genus abbreviation – Bu.
ADULTS: Body without scales. Head: Eyes narrowly if at all separated above antennal pedicels; clypeus short, with some setae; antenna with 13 flagellomeres, flagellomeres 1–12 with basal whorl of setae; proboscis short, 0.3‒0.6 length of antenna; maxillary palpus longer than proboscis, with 5 palpomeres, palpomere 1 very short, palpomere 3 elongate, bearing numerous sensilla basiconica on mesal surface. Thorax: With long setae; scutellum more or less trilobed, with long evenly spaced marginal setae. Wing: Length 1.9–2.9 mm; costa with distinct fusiform scales, other longitudinal veins with simple and/or somewhat lanceolate setae, vein R1 distinctly wavy, with the distal end bent anteriad, microtrichia on membrane, distinct scales on alula and posterior margin (fringe scales). Halter: With some setae. Legs: With fusiform scales; foretarsomere 5 of males with ventrally swollen base and long ungues with a distinct tooth; ungues of females equal and short on all legs, with or without ventral tooth. Abdomen: With or without long setae; pointed or blunt in females, when blunt terminal segments covered by segment VIII. MALE GENITALIA: Not rotated, tergum IX well developed, reaching mid-length of gonocoxite; gonostylus swollen at base, slender and slightly curved distally, with short tooth-like gonostylar claw. See Burmaculicinae.
The evolutionary relationships of Burmaculex and the other extinct genus currently placed in Burmaculicinae have not been explored.
As noted by Borkent & Grimaldi (2004), the presence of a stylet-like labrum and laciniae in Bu. antiquus, which is shared with extant Culicidae, indicates the capability of piercing and feeding on vertebrates.
The fossil species are known from Burmese amber (Myanmar).
Borkent & Grimaldi, 2004 (genus and species description, comparative morphology, potential bionomics, phylogenetic position); Borkent & Grimaldi, 2016 (species description, phylogenetic position); Szadziewski et al., 2024 (genus and species descriptions).
antiquus Borkent & Grimaldi, 2004 (89.3–99.6 Mya, Mesozoic, Upper Cretaceous, Turonian to Cenomanian, perhaps to Late Albian (≈100 Mya)
burmanicus (Poinar, Zavortink & Brown, 2019) (98.79 ± 0.62 Mya, Mesozoic, Early Upper Cretaceous, Cenomanian)
edwardsi Szadziewski & Krzeminski, 2024 (in Szadziewski et al., 2024) (~99 Mya, Mesozoic, mid-Cretaceous)
harbachi Szadziewski & Krzeminski, (in Szadziewski et al., 2024) (~99 Mya, Mesozoic, mid-Cretaceous)
porczynskii Szadziewski & Krzeminski, 2024 (in Szadziewski et al., 2024) (~99 Mya, Mesozoic, mid-Cretaceous)
