• Journal of the Korean earth science society
• /
• v.35 no.3
• /
• pp.161-167
• /
• 2014

Recently, a winged insect fossil the Mecoptera has been discovered for the first time in the Late Triassic Amisan Formation in the Boryeong area, Chungnam, Korea. The fossil is classified as Mesopsyche dobrokhotovae based on the characteristics of wing venation. Insect fossils which belong to this Genus show worldwide distribution in the Late Triassic, making it possible to estimate that they thrived in this period. Extant Mecoptera survive in humid environments by hanging onto tree leaves or stems and eating other small insects. Compared to the ecology of extant Mecoptera, the presence of the fossil Mecoptera indicates that the paleoenvironment in Nampo Group was very similar to the present during the Late Triassic Period. Mesopsyche dobrokhotovae is the first Mecoptera occurrence and one of the oldest insect fossil occurrences in Korea.