Holocene insect remains from south-western Greenland

Abstract

Remains of plants and invertebrates from Holocene deposits in south-western Greenland include a number of insect fragments from Heteroptera and Coleoptera. Some of the finds extend the known temporal range of the species considerably back in time, and one of the taxa has not previously been found in Greenland either fossil or extant. The fossil fauna includes the weevil Rutidosoma globulus which is at present extremely rare in Greenland. Its rarity might indicate that it is a recent immigrant, but the fossil finds provide a minimum date for its arrival at around 5840 cal. years B.P. Other remains of terrestrial insects complement the scarce fossil Greenland record of the species concerned.

Keywords: Greenland; Arctic; Holocene; insects; beetles; palaeoenvironments

(Published: 12 June 2012)

Citation: Polar Research 2012, 31, 18367, http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/polar.v31i0.18367