In a 47 million year old fly, this important ingredient was found

Hitekno.com – For scientist is investigating fossil flies 47 million years old who unexpectedly found important ingredients for research.

In fossil flies which was found at the Messel Pit site, Germany, it turns out that it still has food in its stomach.

The petrified animal’s stomach was distended and filled with pollen.

This discovery is the first direct evidence that several ancient fly species ate microspores from different subtropical plant species.

“The pollen content found in the flies’ stomachs indicates that the flies ate and transported pollen 47 million years ago, “said Fridgeir Grímsson, a botanist from the University of Vienna.

This suggests that it plays an important role in the spread of pollen from some plant taxa.

Today, pollinators are generally synonymous with birds, bees and butterflies.

Very few have linked it to flies, although it is generally considered to be the second most important pollinating insect.

The new fossils represent a new species of ancient short proboscis fly (Hirmoneura messelense) which appears to be quite fond of pollen.

Experts suggest that these pollinating insects may have outdone bees.

The pollen found in the fly’s stomach is also so preserved that it provides information about the plants it is eating.

Microscopic analysis showed that there were traces of pollen from at least four plant families, including aquatic willows and ivy, which probably grew around the forest edges of an ancient lake.

The researchers also found long hairs known as satae on the chest or stomach of flies.

Although no pollen was found on the hair, the use of long hair on the fly’s body can also carry pollen when the flies fly from one flower to another.

Meanwhile, three unknown types of pollen in the fly’s stomach also showed that the fly ate a mixture of parent plants that grew close together.

“It appears that flies avoid long-distance flights between food sources and seek pollen from closely related plants, “explained Grimsson, quoted from Science Alert, Monday (15/3/2021).

The new findings, published in Current Biology, support the old hypothesis that in some modern tropical environments, flies visiting flowers may be as important as some pollinating bees.

The finding of pollen in the stomachs of ancient flies also suggests that this could have been an important role for these insects since the Jurassic period.

That’s the finding of a 47 million year old fly fossil which turns out to still have food in its stomach. (Suara.com/ Lintang Siltya Utami).

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