Zhangsolvidae is an extinct family of

brachycera The Brachycera are a suborder of the order Diptera. It is a major suborder consisting of around 120 families. Their most distinguishing characteristic is reduced antenna segmentation. Description A summary of the main physical characteristics i ...

flies Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced ...

known from the Cretaceous period. Members of the family possess a long

proboscis A proboscis () is an elongated appendage from the head of an animal, either a vertebrate or an invertebrate. In invertebrates, the term usually refers to tubular mouthparts used for feeding and sucking. In vertebrates, a proboscis is an elong ...

, varying in length between 1.3 and 7 mm depending on the species, and were probably

nectarivore In zoology, a nectarivore is an animal which derives its energy and nutrient requirements from a diet consisting mainly or exclusively of the sugar-rich nectar produced by flowering plants. Nectar as a food source presents a number of benefits a ...

s. A specimen has been found with preserved

Bennettitales Bennettitales (also known as cycadeoids) is an extinct order of seed plants that first appeared in the Permian period and became extinct in most areas toward the end of the Cretaceous. Bennettitales are among the most common Mesozoic seed plants ...

pollen, suggesting that they acted as

pollinator A pollinator is an animal that moves pollen from the male anther of a flower to the female stigma of a flower. This helps to bring about fertilization of the ovules in the flower by the male gametes from the pollen grains. Insects are the maj ...

s for extinct

gymnosperms The gymnosperms ( lit. revealed seeds) are a group of seed-producing plants that includes conifers, cycads, ''Ginkgo'', and gnetophytes, forming the clade Gymnospermae. The term ''gymnosperm'' comes from the composite word in el, γυμνό� ...

. They are considered to be members of the Stratiomyomorpha.

Taxonomy

* †'' Buccinatormyia'' Arillo et al. 2015 ** †''Buccinatormyia gangnami'' Khramov and Nam 2019

Jinju Formation The Jinju Formation () is an Early Cretaceous geologic Formation (geology), formation in South Korea.Albian The Albian is both an age of the geologic timescale and a stage in the stratigraphic column. It is the youngest or uppermost subdivision of the Early/Lower Cretaceous Epoch/Series. Its approximate time range is 113.0 ± 1.0 Ma to 100.5 ± 0.9 M ...

** †''Buccinatormyia magnifica'' Arillo et al. 2015 Spanish amber, Albian ** †''Buccinatormyia soplaensis'' Arillo et al. 2015 Spanish amber, Albian * †'' Burmomyia'' Zhang and Wang 2019 ** †''Burmomyia rossi'' Zhang and Wang 2019

Burmese amber Burmese amber, also known as Burmite or Kachin amber, is amber from the Hukawng Valley in northern Myanmar. The amber is dated to around 100 million years ago, during the latest Albian to earliest Cenomanian ages of the mid-Cretaceous period. The ...

, Myanmar,

Cenomanian The Cenomanian is, in the ICS' geological timescale, the oldest or earliest age of the Late Cretaceous Epoch or the lowest stage of the Upper Cretaceous Series. An age is a unit of geochronology; it is a unit of time; the stage is a unit in the s ...

* †'' Cratomyia'' Mazzarolo and Amorim 2000 ** †''Cratomyia cretacica'' Wilkommen 2007

Crato Formation The Crato Formation is a geologic formation of Early Cretaceous ( Aptian) age in northeastern Brazil's Araripe Basin. It is an important Lagerstätte (undisturbed fossil accumulation) for palaeontologists. The strata were laid down mostly duri ...

, Brazil,

Aptian The Aptian is an age in the geologic timescale or a stage in the stratigraphic column. It is a subdivision of the Early or Lower Cretaceous Epoch or Series and encompasses the time from 121.4 ± 1.0 Ma to 113.0 ± 1.0 Ma (million years ago), a ...

** †''Cratomyia macrorrhyncha'' Mazzarolo and Amorim 2000 Crato Formation, Brazil, Aptian ** †''Cratomyia mimetica'' Grimaldi 2016 Burmese amber, Myanmar, Cenomanian ** †''Cratomyia zhuoi'' Zhang and Wang 2019 Burmese amber, Myanmar, Cenomanian * †'' Linguatormyia'' Grimaldi 2015 in Arillo et al. 2015 ** †''Linguatormyia teletacta'' Grimaldi 2015 in Arillo et al. 2015 Burmese amber, Myanmar, Cenomanian * †'' Zhangsolva'' Nagatomi and Yang 1998 ** †''Zhangsolva cupressa'' Zhang et al. 1993

Laiyang Formation Laiyang city () is a county-level city within Yantai bordering Qingdao, located in the middle of the Shandong Peninsula, in Shandong province, China. The majority (70%) of its population are farmers and it is famous for producing the Laiyang pe ...

, China, Aptian **†''Zhangsolva burmensis'' Zhang & Zhang, 2021

, Myanmar,

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q13566406 Brachycera families Prehistoric insect families