Early Eocene insects from Quilchena, British Columbia, and their paleoclimatic implications

Abstract

Fossil insects were examined from the Early Eocene lacustrine shale at Quilchena, British Columbia. Insects of 10 orders (Blattodea, Dermaptera, Orthoptera, Hemiptera, Neuroptera, Coleoptera, Mecoptera, Diptera, Trichoptera, Hymenoptera) were identified, bringing the known number at this site to 11. These were placed in 26 families, 22 of which are new occurrences for this locality. Specimens include early occurrences of bees and ants. Three fossils of leaves with galls were examined. Thirteen of the families are new to British Columbia, and 9 of these (Blaberidae, Haglidae, Cixiidae, Dinidoridae, Cydnidae, Staphylinidae, Panorpidae, Pipunculidae, Halictidae) are new to the region of the Okanagan Highlands. A number of taxa are earliest known occurrences. Several insects in this fauna are larger than their modern relatives and some are larger than their relatives from other Eocene locales. The presence of insects including March flies, diplopterine cockroaches, dinidorid bugs, and seed weevils confirm and perhaps exceed paleobotanical indications that in the Eocene, British Columbia was much warmer than it is today.