THE TRIASSIC INSECTS FROM MONTE SAN GIORGIO: SYSTEMATICS AND PALEOENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS

A collection of 16 specimens of insects (both adult and larval forms) collected between 1997 and 2003 in the Lower Kalkschieferzone (KSZ) at the Val Mara site D near Meride (Canton Ticino, Svizzera), Monte San Giorgio by the UNIMI team lead by Prof. A. Tintori and Dr. C. Lombardo and with the support by Dr. Markus Felber, then curator at the Museo Cantonale di S.N. in Lugano (MCSN) are here described and the paleoenvironmental implications of this entomofauna is discussed. Monte San Giorgio is a Triassic fossil lagerstätte inscribed since 2003 in the UNESCO World Heritage for its vertebrate fossils, but the importance of its fossil insects is coming into light. The insect assemblage has proved to be exceptional under two aspects: it includes the most ancient fossil record for four groups and it provides the most ancient record of nervous structures (cerebrum and nerve cord) in insects, thanks to preservation through phosphatization. The Kalkschieferzone entomofauna is also quite diverse, including representatives of seven orders, both terrestrial and aquatic, suggesting the existence of a much more complex and stable terrestrial habitat than a carbonatic platform could support.