Shcherbakov D.E.1, Makarkin V.N.2, Aristov D.S.1, Vasilenko D.V. 2009. Permian insects from the Russky Island, South Primorye // Russian Entomol. J. Vol.18. No.1: 7–16 [in English].
1 Paleontological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Profsoyuznaya ul. 123, Moscow 117647, Russia.
2 Institute of Biology and Soil Sciences, Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok 690022, Russia. E-mail: vnmakarkin@mail.ru
KEY WORDS: fossil insects, Megasecoptera, Titanoptera, Grylloblattida, Homoptera, Neuroptera, Coleoptera, Mecoptera, entomofauna, South Primorye, Permian, Kungurian.
ABSTRACT. The first Permian insect assemblage from the Russian Far East, collected in the lower Pospelovo Formation (Kungurian, Lower Permian) of the Russky Island near Vladivostok, is described. It is dominated by Grylloblattida (Ideliidae and Liomopteridae: Liomopterites svetlanae Aristov, sp.n.) and includes Megasecoptera (Scytohymenidae: Oceanoptera elenae Shcherbakov, gen. et sp.n.), Homoptera Auchenorrhyncha (Prosbolopseidae Ivaiinae: ?Cicadopsis sp.), Plecoptera, Neuroptera (Permithonidae: Okolpania eugeniae Makarkin et Shcherbakov, sp.n.), Coleoptera Archostemata (Permocupedidae: Maricoleus valentinae Shcherbakov, gen. et sp.n.), Mecoptera (Permochoristidae: Protopanorpa sp., ?Petromantis sp.), and presumed Titanoptera s.l. (Gerarina), but no Blattida or Orthoptera. Traces of insect-plant interactions include cordaite seeds with punctures made by Palaeodictyopteroidea and clutches of relatively large, lense-shaped eggs attached to leaves and stems (possibly produced by megasecopterans; the earliest record of exophytic oviposition). In the regular occurrence of palaeodictyopteroids and their feeding traces the Russky Island assemblage is similar to the Vorkuta Group (Pechora Basin) entomofauna, while in the absence of cockroaches it is closer to the Siberian Middle Permian assemblages. The systematic position of Nemuropsis Martynov, 1925 is discussed. The new insect species are named after the paleobotanists from Vladivostok, Elena B. Volynets, Valentina I. Burago, Svetlana A. Shorokhova and Eugenia V. Bugdaeva, who greatly facilitated our fieldwork.