''Leptoconops zherikhini'' is an extinct species of biting

midge A midge is any small fly, including species in several families of non-mosquito Nematoceran Diptera. Midges are found (seasonally or otherwise) on practically every land area outside permanently arid deserts and the frigid zones. Some mid ...

s belonging to the family Ceratopogonidae. This species was described from fossilized remains preserved in

Lower Cretaceous Lower may refer to: *Lower (surname) *Lower Township, New Jersey *Lower Receiver (firearms) *Lower Wick Lower Wick is a small hamlet located in the county of Gloucestershire, England. It is situated about five miles south west of Dursley, eight ...

amber Amber is fossilized tree resin that has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times. Much valued from antiquity to the present as a gemstone, amber is made into a variety of decorative objects."Amber" (2004). In Ma ...

from Álava, Spain. These

fossils A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved in ...

represents the earliest known occurrence of extant genus ''Leptoconops''. This species was named in honor of Russian entomologist

Vladimir Zherikhin Vladimir Vasilevich Zherikhin (russian: Владимир Васильевич Жерихин, 22 July 194521 December 2001), of the Paleontological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, was one of the world's leading paleoentomologists ...

References

† Fossil taxa described in 2003 † Prehistoric insects of Europe † Prehistoric Diptera {{cretaceous-insect-stub