A Fossil Specimen of the North American Hickory Aphid (Longistigma caryae Harris), Found in Tertiary Deposits in Iceland

• Published in: Insect Systematics & Evolution
• Main Authors: Friedrich, Walter L., Heie, Ole E.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Brill 1971
• Subjects: Insect Science; Ecology; Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Arctic; Canada; Greenland; Iceland
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/187631271x00086; https://brill.com/view/journals/ise/2/1/article-p74_8.xml; https://data.brill.com/files/journals/1876312x_002_01_s008_text.pdf

Abstract A fossil specimen of Longistigma caryae (Harris) has been found in tuff from Iceland, locality: Hrútagíl i Mókollsdal in northwestern Iceland, age: Upper Miocene or Lower Pliocene. In the present time the species lives exclusively in the region of the Eastern Deciduous Forests of North America on several genera of deciduous trees, a.o. Carya and Fagus. The find certifies paleobotanical evidence indicating that Iceland once belonged in the region of deciduous forests with a flora more like the modern eastern North American flora than any other modern flora region. The recent aphid fauna of Iceland contains only palaearctic, holarctic, cosmopolitic, and endemic species and species common with Greenland and arctic Canada.