Holocene insect remains from south-western Greenland

• Published in: Polar Research
• Main Authors: Jens Böcher, Ole Bennike, Bernd Wagner
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Norwegian Polar Institute 2012
• Subjects: Greenland; Arctic; Holocene; insects; beetles; palaeoenvironments; Environmental sciences; GE1-350; Oceanography; GC1-1581; Polar Research
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3402/polar.v31i0.18367; https://doaj.org/article/6d9e0c8b1fd74e0db564f67627f0b584

Remains of plants and invertebrates from Holocene deposits in south-western Greenland include a number of insect fragments from Heteroptera and Coleoptera. Some of the finds extend the known temporal range of the species considerably back in time, and one of the taxa has not previously been found in Greenland either fossil or extant. The fossil fauna includes the weevil Rutidosoma globulus which is at present extremely rare in Greenland. Its rarity might indicate that it is a recent immigrant, but the fossil finds provide a minimum date for its arrival at around 5840 cal. years B.P. Other remains of terrestrial insects complement the scarce fossil Greenland record of the species concerned.