Article: A new aphid from the Cretaceous of Botswana

The forewing of a fossil aphid Siphonophoroides? orapaensis (Homoptera: Aphididae) is described. It is the first fossil aphid from Africa. Although it is impossible to assign it with confidence to a distinct extant or extinct family of the Aphidoidea, it has been placed tentatively in the Drepanosiphidae. Its similarity with members of the genus Siphonophoroides had led to its tentative inclusion in this group. The fossil was discovered in middle Cretaceous sediments from the Orapa Diamond Mine, Botswana. The presence of an aphid has implications for a palaeoenvironmental analysis of this part of Africa in the Cretaceous; this aphid was a specialized parasite on early angiosperms and the Orapa climate was seasonal and temperate with spring and summer rains.