Jurassic butterflies

["Richard W. Travsky" <rtravsky@uwyo.edu>]

Don't think I've seen this mentioned; it's pretty cool.

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__&d=CwIDaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=x82f3Wlkwtmbr1z8IAt9jA&m=ZIhQjDIJ2HeC0exZT1zQcsDeHIR3rnMsGks4c55ZSTs&s=qj1MClMZPIT-XCI4PTrTW0odSHddsUD68WLcixo6Ybo&e=
  rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/283/1824/20152893



The evolutionary convergence of mid-Mesozoic lacewings and Cenozoic 
butterflies

Abstract

Mid-Mesozoic kalligrammatid lacewings (Neuroptera) entered the fossil 
record 165 million years ago (Ma) and disappeared 45 Ma later. Extant 
papilionoid butterflies (Lepidoptera) probably originated 80–70 Ma, long 
after kalligrammatids became extinct. Although poor preservation of 
kalligrammatid fossils previously prevented their detailed morphological 
and ecological characterization, we examine new, well-preserved, 
kalligrammatid fossils from Middle Jurassic and Early Cretaceous sites 
in northeastern China to unravel a surprising array of similar 
morphological and ecological features in these two, unrelated clades. We 
used polarized light and epifluorescence photography, SEM imaging, 
energy dispersive spectrometry and time-of-flight secondary ion mass 
spectrometry to examine kalligrammatid fossils and their environment. We 
mapped the evolution of specific traits onto a kalligrammatid phylogeny 
and discovered that these extinct lacewings convergently evolved wing 
eyespots that possibly contained melanin, and wing scales, elongate 
tubular proboscides, similar feeding styles, and seed–plant 
associations, similar to butterflies. Long-proboscid kalligrammatid 
lacewings lived in ecosystems with gymnosperm–insect relationships and 
likely accessed bennettitalean pollination drops and pollen. This system 
later was replaced by mid-Cretaceous angiosperms and their insect 
pollinators.