2026 in paleoentomology

Further information: 2026 in arthropod paleontology and 2026 in paleontology

This paleoentomology list records new fossil insect taxa that were announced or described during the year 2026, as well as notes other significant paleoentomology discoveries and events which occurred during the year.

Clade Antliophora

Dipterans

Nematocerans

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Type locality	Country	Notes	Images
Cascoplecia gracilis [1]	Sp. nov	Valid	Skartveit	Cretaceous		Myanmar	A member of the family Bibionidae.
Cascoplecia tridens [1]	Sp. nov	Valid	Skartveit	Cretaceous		Myanmar	A member of the family Bibionidae.

Clade Archaeorthoptera

Orthoptera

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Type locality	Country	Notes	Images
Sinagryllus huangi [2]	Sp. nov	Valid	Xu et al.	Middle Jurassic	Yanan Formation	China	A member of the family Baissogryllidae. First online in 2025, officially published in 2026.

Clade Coleopterida

Coleopterans

Adephaga

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Type locality	Country	Notes	Images
Coptoclava spinosa [3]	Sp. nov	Valid	Lee, Nel & Nam	Early Cretaceous (Albian)	Jinju Formation	South Korea	A member of the family Coptoclavidae.

Polyphaga

Cucujiformia

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Type locality	Country	Notes	Images
Protokateretes ensifer [4]	Sp. nov		Zhao, Engel & Cai in Zhao et al.	Cretaceous		Myanmar	A member of the family Kateretidae.

Coleopteran research

• Liu et al. (2026) report the discovery of a specialized Pachyteles -like beetle larva from the Cretaceous amber from Myanmar, with a morphology interpreted by the authors as suggestive of adaptations to ambush predation strategy and to phragmotic defense. ^[5]

Clade Dictyoptera

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Type locality	Country	Notes	Images
Cupidoblatta [6]	Gen. et sp. nov		Sendi et al.	Cretaceous	Kachin amber	Myanmar	A cockroach belonging to the family Corydiidae. Genus includes new species C. elegans.
Pinniblatta [6]	Gen. et 2 sp. nov		Sendi et al.	Cretaceous	Kachin amber	Myanmar	A cockroach belonging to the family Corydiidae. Genus includes new species P. sylvana and P. horvathovae.

Dictyopteran research

• Ianni et al. (2026) report the discovery of a hindwing of a roachoid belonging to the family Spiloblattinidae from the Carboniferous (Moscovian) strata of the San Giorgio Basin, representing the first fossil insect formally described from Sardinia and the oldest insect fossil from Italy reported to date. ^[7]

Hymenopterans

Apocrita

Chrysidoidea

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Type locality	Country	Notes	Images
Chlorepyris mesocurvus [8]	Sp. nov		Jouault, Huang & Azevedo	Cretaceous (Albian-Cenomanian)	Kachin amber	Myanmar	A member of the family Bethylidae belonging to the subfamily Epyrinae.
Gwesped piastrii [8]	Sp. nov		Jouault, Huang & Azevedo	Cretaceous (Albian-Cenomanian)	Kachin amber	Myanmar	A member of the family Bethylidae belonging to the subfamily Lancepyrinae.

Formicoidea

Formicoidea research

• Boudinot et al. (2026) identify an ant from a piece of the Eocene Baltic amber in the collection of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe as a specimen of Ctenobethylus goepperti , and interpret this species as a senior synonym of Eldermyrmex exsectus. ^[9]

Clade Neuropterida

Neuropterans

Neuropteran research

• Makarkin (2026) raises neuropteran subfamily Cretanallachiinae to the rank of a separate family Cretanallachiidae, interpreted as likely related to Dilaridae or ithonoid-like taxa. ^[10]

Clade Paraneoptera

Hemipterans

Auchenorrhyncha

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Type locality	Location	Notes	Images
Dongningus [11]	Gen. et comb. nov		Zhang, Ning & Zhang in Zhang et al.	Late Triassic	Luoquanzhan Formation	China	A member of Cicadomorpha belonging to the family Dysmorphoptilidae. The type species is "Prosbolopsites" granulatus Hong & Chang (1993).
Myanmala [12]	Fam. et gen. et sp. nov		Chen et al.	Cretaceous	Kachin amber	Myanmar	A member of Cicadomorpha belonging to the superfamily Cercopoidea, the type genus of the new family Myanmalidae. Genus includes new species M. zireni.

Heteroptera

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Type locality	Location	Notes	Images
Daohugoucoris [13]	Gen. et sp. nov		Dai et al.	Middle Jurassic	Jiulongshan Formation	China	A member of Pachymeridiidae. The type species is D. punctatus.
Subtilicoris [13]	Gen. et sp. nov		Dai et al.	Middle Jurassic	Jiulongshan Formation	China	A member of Pachymeridiidae. The type species is S. actuarius.

Permopsocida

• Li et al. (2026) study the wing shape evolution in Permopsocida, reporting evidence of a bottleneck coinciding with the Permian–Triassic extinction event and structural constraints limiting aerodynamic innovation in the aftermath of this extinction, as well as evidence linking changes of morphological diversity of wings of Permopsocida to changes of diversity of gymnosperm plants. ^[14]

Other insects

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Type locality	Country	Notes	Images
Chauliodites qujingensis [15]	Sp. nov		Hu, Zheng & Zhang in Hu et al.	Early Triassic	Kayitou Formation	China	A winged relative of ice crawlers belonging to the family Chaulioditidae.

General research

• Negri & Toledo (2026) review evidence of mutualistic relationships between insects and gymnosperms before the emergence of flowering plants. ^[16]

References

1. Skartveit, J. (2026). "The genus Cascoplecia Poinar, 2010 (Diptera: Bibionidae: Cascopleciinae) from mid-Cretaceous Myanmar amber, with description of two new species". Zootaxa. 5748 (2): 267–275. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.5748.2.7.
2. Xu, C.; Boudinot, B. E.; Li, T.; Fang, R.; Zheng, D.; Beutel, R. G. (2025). "The first fossil true cricket (Grylloidea, †Baissogryllidae) from the Middle Jurassic of north-western China and its systematic implications". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 24 (1) 2592554. doi:10.1080/14772019.2025.2592554.
3. Lee, S.-B.; Nel, A.; Nam, G.-S. (2026). "A new species of the genus Coptoclava Ping, 1928 (Coleoptera: Coptoclavidae) from the Early Cretaceous Jinju Formation, Republic of Korea". Historical Biology: An International Journal of Paleobiology. doi:10.1080/08912963.2026.2616315.
4. Zhao, Q.; Sun, Y.; Liu, J.; Ślipiński, A.; Fu, Y.; Huang, D.; Engel, M. S.; Emlen, D. J.; Cai, C. (2026). "Antennal extremes in amber: possible beetle pollination of Chloranthaceae in the Cretaceous". Insect Systematics and Diversity. 10 (1) ixaf059. doi:10.1093/isd/ixaf059.
5. Liu, N.; Engel, M. S.; Zhao, Q.; Fu, Y.-Z.; Huang, D.-Y.; Cai, C.-Y. (2026). "Specialized prey-trapping predation and phragmosis in a Cretaceous beetle larva". Insect Science. doi:10.1111/1744-7917.70227. PMID   41527466.
6. Sendi, H.; Samay, J.; Šmídová, L.; Lian, Z.; Káčerová, J.; Vidlička, L. (2026). "New mid-Cretaceous cockroaches (Blattaria: Corydiidae) from Kachin amber illuminate the diversity of bipectinate antennae". The Science of Nature. 113 (1) 7. doi:10.1007/s00114-025-02060-5.
7. Ianni, A.; Nel, A.; Pillola, G. L.; Romano, M.; Zoboli, D. (2026). "A spiloblattinid (Holopandictyoptera) hind wing from the Carboniferous of San Giorgio Basin (SW Sardinia): the oldest fossil insect from Italy". Rivista Italiana di Paleontologia e Stratigrafia. 132 (1): 1–8. doi:10.54103/2039-4942/29693.
8. Jouault, C.; Huang, D.-Y.; Azevedo, C. O. (2026). "New flat wasps (Hymenoptera: Bethylidae) from the middle Cretaceous Kachin amber of Myanmar". Palaeoworld 201067. doi: 10.1016/j.palwor.2026.201067 .
9. Boudinot, B. E.; Bock, B. L.; Tröger, D.; Weingardt, M.; Hammel, J. U.; Grabe, V.; Solórzano-Kraemer, M. M.; Jandausch, K.; Oberski, J. T.; Schmuck, T. (2026). "Discovery of Goethe's amber ant: its phylogenetic and evolutionary implications". Scientific Reports. doi: 10.1038/s41598-026-36004-4 .
10. Makarkin, V. N. (2026). "Cretanallachiidae – a new family of the specialized Cretaceous Neuroptera". Cretaceous Research 106317. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2026.106317.
11. Zhang, Q.; Ning, L.; Zhang, H.; Li, X. (2026). "The first Dysmorphoptilidae from NE China: evidence based on the reclassification of Prosbolopsites granulatus Hong & Chang, 1993 from Upper Triassic Luoquanzhan Formation of Heilongjiang Province". Historical Biology: An International Journal of Paleobiology. doi:10.1080/08912963.2025.2586229.
12. Chen, J.; Wang, W.-Q.; Zheng, Y.; Wei, G.-J.; Ren, G.-Y. (2026). "A new cicadomorphan family (Insecta, Hemiptera) trapped in mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber". Palaeoworld 201070. doi:10.1016/j.palwor.2026.201070.
13. Dai, Rui; Shen, Haibao; Shih, Chungkun; Ren, Dong; Yao, Yunzhi (2025). "New Insects from the Middle Jurassic Reveal Early Diversification of Membranous Veins of Pentatomomorpha (Hemiptera: Heteroptera)". Acta Geologica Sinica - English Edition. 99 (6): 1615–1625. doi:10.1111/1755-6724.70007.
14. Li, S.; Liang, F.; Yang, X.; Shih, C.; Yao, Y.; Ren, D.; Bai, M. (2026). "Mass extinction constrained and redirected flight evolution in Permopsocida". Gondwana Research. doi:10.1016/j.gr.2025.12.009.
15. Hu, S.-X.; Huang, J.-Y.; Zhang, Q.-Y.; Zhou, C.-Y.; Wen, W.; Min, X.; Zheng, D.-R.; Zhang, Q.-Q. (2026). "New grylloblattid insect from the Lower Triassic Kayitou Formation of Yunnan Province, Southwest China". Palaeoworld 201065. doi:10.1016/j.palwor.2025.201065.
16. Negri, I.; Toledo, M. E. (2026). "Evolution of Insect Pollination Before Angiosperms and Lessons for Modern Ecosystems". Insects. 17 (1) 103. doi: 10.3390/insects17010103 .