Subfamily Burmaculicinae Borkent & Grimaldi, 2016
Burmaculex Borkent & Grimaldi, 2004.
Subfamily Burmaculicinae currently includes two genera with six extinct (fossil) species: Burmaculex (five species) and Paleoculicis (one species).
ADULTS ‒ Proboscis moderately elongate, about 0.3–0.4 length of antenna; wing largely without scales, present only on costa and posterior margin, vein R1 with cephalad bend anterior to vein R2+3. IMMATURE STAGE ‒ Unknown. See Borkent & Grimaldi (2016) and Szadziewski et al. (2024) for further information.
Phylogenetic analysis based on morphological data has shown that Burmaculicinae is the sister of all other fossil and extant species of Culicidae (Borkent & Grimaldi, 2004; Szadziewski et al., 2024).
The known species of Burmaculicinae existed during the mid- and Upper Cretaceous of the Mesozoic Era approximately 75–110 Mya. The climate was relatively warm, there were numerous shallow inland seas, and dinosaurs were the dominant land animals. Flowering plants and many insects evolved during the Cretaceous Period. Potential hosts for species of the subfamily would have included reptiles and birds, and perhaps other vertebrates that existed in the mid- and Upper Cretaceous.
The species are known from Burmese amber (Myanmar) and Canadian amber (Alberta).
Borkent & Grimaldi, 2004 (type genus and species description, phylogenetic position, bionomics); Borkent & Grimaldi, 2016 (Burmaculicinae, diagnosis, type genus description, phylogenetic position, comparative morphology); Szadziewski et al., 2024 (genera, species descriptions, phylogenetic position).
Burmaculex (see).
Paleoculicis (see).
