The new fossil, encased in a piece of amber from the Kachin region of Myanmar, represents both the first mosquito larva preserved in amber and the first immature Mesozoic era mosquito named as a new genus and species. Early Kretosabet. This discovery provides strong support for the Jurassic origin of mosquitoes in the family Culicidae and suggests that their larval morphology has remained relatively conserved for at least the last 99 million years.
Mosquitoes constitute a large group of insects, with more than 3,727 living species.
Despite their small body size, they are highly visible and widespread, playing significant roles in ecosystems, human history, and human and veterinary health.
There are currently 31 known fossil species of mosquitoes. Ancient mosquitoes are similar to living species and were classified as living members.
“These oldest known mosquito fossils come from adult insects and were also found in amber deposits dating back about 99 million years,” said Dr André Amaral from Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and colleagues.
“Because of their morphology, which differs sharply from that of modern species, they are interpreted as members of a distinct group of Burmaculicinae, an extinct lineage within Culicidae.”
According to the authors, Early Kretosabet belongs to the Sabetini group, which includes living species.
Like the larvae of living Sabethini species, the larva of the new species is thought to have lived in small pools of water.
“Based on the fossils that have been found to date, the evolutionary origins of mosquitoes date back to the Jurassic period around 201–145 million years ago,” they said.
“Estimates based on molecular phylogenies vary widely and place results between the Triassic and Jurassic.”
“Our results strongly suggest that mosquitoes had already diversified during the Jurassic period and that their larval morphology remained remarkably similar for nearly 100 million years.”
“This challenges previous assumptions about the early evolution of this group of insects and provides new insight into its evolutionary ecology.”
A piece of amber containing fossil larvae Early Kretosabet comes from the Kachin amber mines in the Hukaung Valley, Kachin State, Myanmar.
These deposits date back to the Late Cretaceous era, 98.79 million years ago.
“This fossil is unique because the larva is very similar to modern species – unlike all other mosquito fossils discovered from this period, which exhibit highly unusual morphological features that are no longer present in modern species,” Dr Amaral said.
A paper description Early Kretosabet was published this month in the magazine Gondwana exploration.
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Andre P. Amaral etc.. 2025. First fossil mosquito larva in 99-million-year-old amber with modern morphology sheds light on the evolutionary history of mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae). Gondwana exploration 150: 154-162; two: 10.1016/j.gr.2025.09.011
