Insect Fossil

Insects are a class of Arthropoda. Their sexes are separate, and they mainly develop by metamorphosis. They first appeared in the late Devonian, and they have lasted until the present. Insects account for 80% of all animal species. China’s insect fossils are mainly found in Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous and Neogene shale. Examples are the fossils of Ephemeropsis, split-tail shrimp, dragonflies and bees discovered in the dense greenish brown shale in the Upper-Lower Jurassic strata in eastern Hebei, western Shangdong and western Liaoning Provinces. Other examples are the fossils of mosquitoes, midges, flies and ants preserved in amber mined in the lower Palaeogene rocks in the Fushun Coalfield in Liaoning Province and the amber containing mosquitoes, flies, ants and moths found in the lower Palaeogene paper-like diatomaceous shale in Linqu, Shangdong Province. Insect fossils inside well-preserved amber are most valuable. China’s prime sites for excavating insect fossils are in...