Atlas of Amber Insects of China [Chinese]

About this book

Language: Chinese with scientific nomenclature

Atlas of Amber Insects of China for the first time deals systematically with amber insects and is the only work of its kind to be published for the palaeontological and emtomological circles in China, hence it may be called the first atlas of Chinese palaeoentomology. The amber insect specimens illustrated in this book were collected from the coal seams of the Guchengzi Formation of the Fushun Coal Mine in Fushu City, Liaoning Province, belonging to Early Eocene in age (ca 50 mya, corresponding to the European Ypresian Stage). The Fushun amber, which forms one of the important amber localities in the world, abundantly includes various types of insects, and is well known in China and abroad, because of the presence in them of well-preserved complete and lifelike bodies.

The book consists mainly of three parts, the first part gives some basic knowledge about amber and amber insects, including their formation within coal mines, the physical and chemical characters of amber, the distinction between natural and artificial amber, and processing and uses of the amber. The second part discusses the geological background of the formation of amber and the trapped insects, including such aspects as palaeogeography, palaeoclimatology, palaeovegetation, stratigraphy, as well as amber collecting in the field and the method of study in the laboratory and so on. The third part, the major portion, embraces taxanomy of the amber insects with basic descriptions of generic and specific characteristics The contents of the three parts are closely related and well arranged from simple to complex and linked up with each other, so that they are easy to understand. Evidently, an atlas so systematically organized will prove to be an invaluable popular book for the public.

In the atlas examples have been carefully chosen from eight insect orders: Ephemeroptera, Blattaria, Homoptera (aphids), Heteroptera, Psocoptera, Coleoptera, Diptera, and Hymenoptera, covering 9 suborders, 7 infraorders, 30 superfamilies, 55 families, 25 subfamilies, 7 tribes, 174 genera, and 199 species. The atlas gives the most complete and up-to-date systematic record of insect taxa in China, thus laying a sound foundation for furthering the study in this field.

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