title: Blood-feeding true bugs in the Early Cretaceous.
abstract: Blood-feeding insects, as vectors of disease for humans and livestock alike, have garnered significant interest, but our understanding of their early evolution is hindered by the scarcity of available material and the difficulty in distinguishing early hematophages from non-blood-feeding relatives. Here, we report a new family of true bugs including two new genera and species from the Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation in Northeastern China. By utilizing geochemical methods for determining their diets and combining morphological and taphonomic data, we demonstrate that these new species represent the earliest evidence of blood feeding among true bugs, extending the geological record of such lineages by approximately 30 million years. Remarkably, one of the bugs appears to have perished immediately following a blood meal, which may have been from coexisting mammals, birds, or avian-related dinosaurs. These records expand the phylogenetic and ecological diversity of blood-feeding insects in the Early Cretaceous, enriching our knowledge of paleoecological associations in these ancient environments.
authors: College of Life Sciences, Capital Normal University, 105 Xisanhuanbeilu, Haidian District, Beijing 100048, China. Electronic address: yaoyz100@gmail.com.
authors: Yunzhi
authors: Y
authors: Yao
authors: Department of Entomology, China Agricultural University, Yuanmingyuan West Road, Beijing 100193, China.
authors: Wanzhi
authors: W
authors: Cai
authors: Key Laboratory of Evolutionary Systematics of Vertebrates, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100044, China.
authors: Xing
authors: X
authors: Xu
authors: College of Life Sciences, Capital Normal University, 105 Xisanhuanbeilu, Haidian District, Beijing 100048, China.
authors: Chungkun
authors: C
authors: Shih
authors: Division of Entomology, Natural History Museum and Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA.
authors: Michael S
authors: MS
authors: Engel
authors: Institute of Geology and Paleontology, Linyi University, Shandong 276000, China.
authors: Xiaoting
authors: X
authors: Zheng
authors: College of Life Sciences, Capital Normal University, 105 Xisanhuanbeilu, Haidian District, Beijing 100048, China.
authors: Yunyun
authors: Y
authors: Zhao
authors: College of Life Sciences, Capital Normal University, 105 Xisanhuanbeilu, Haidian District, Beijing 100048, China. Electronic address: rendong@mail.cnu.edu.cn.
authors: Dong
authors: D
authors: Ren
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D004032:Diet; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D005580:Fossils; D020062:Heteroptera / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000145:classification* / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008297:Male; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D010802:Phylogeny