First leafhopper from the earliest Eocene Fur Formation (Denmark) representing a new genus of Cicadellinae (Hemiptera: Cicadomorpha)

Abstract

The Fur Formation, located in the western Limfjord region of northern Jutland, Denmark, is famous for its numerous and often exceptionally well-preserved marine and terrestrial fossils (e.g., Bonde et al., 2008). The geological background of the Konservat-Lagerstätte was described by Pedersen & Surlyk (1983). The formation preserves a rich record of earliest Ypresian (Eocene, ca. 55 Ma) fossil insects (e.g., Madsen & Rasmussen, 2021). The fauna includes many hemipterans mostly representing Heteroptera and Sternorrhyncha but the diverse modern family Cicadellidae (leafhoppers) is represented by a single specimen among the >20,000 available insect fossils discovered so far.