The amber sites from the Chiapas Highlands in southwestern Mexico constitute an Oligo-Miocene Amber-Lagerstätte (ca. 24 Ma) whose mines and pits at Simojovel, Totolapa, and Estrella de Belén yield exceptionally preserved fossil inclusions, notably insects from an estuarine wetland. A comprehensive cross-referenced catalog of insects and their close relatives (Arthropoda: Hexapoda) recorded in Mexican amber has been compiled. The catalog comprises 589 fossil records, including 21 orders, 180 families, 230 genera, and 193 species. Data show the fossil diversity of insects based on 65 years of taxonomic descriptions. The catalog also consists of an online database for consultation and permanent updating. Accordingly, the taxonomic composition of Hexapoda in Oligo-Miocene Mexican amber is a significant addition to the current knowledge of the diversity of Lagerstätte taxa distributed worldwide.

The taxonomic status of Episoriculus umbrinus has been contentious. This study aims to clarify its taxonomic position through mitochondrial genome analysis. Specimens of E. umbrinus were obtained from Liupanshui City, Guizhou Province, China. Genomic DNA was extracted, and 15 primer pairs were designed to amplify and sequence the complete mitochondrial genome of E. umbrinus. The results revealed that the mitochondrial genome of E. umbrinus is a circular double-stranded structure with a length of 17,073 bp, comprising 13 protein-coding genes, 1 control region, 22 tRNA genes, 2 rRNA genes, and 1 origin of L-strand replication. Compared with E. caudatus, differences were observed between the two species in terms of replication origins, gene overlap regions, base lengths, and termination codons. Genetic distance analysis of mitochondrial protein-coding genes showed that the genetic distance between E. umbrinus and E. caudatus ranged from 0.069 to 0.125. A phylogenetic tree constructed based on the concatenated sequences of the 13 protein-coding genes indicated that E. umbrinus clustered as a distinct branch with the other three species within the genus Episoriculus. This study confirmed at the molecular level that E. umbrinus is an independent species rather than a subspecies of E. caudatus. The mitochondrial genome sequence of E. umbrinus provides an important supplementary information for the genetic research of this species and offers new evidence for the phylogenetic study of the tribe Nectogalini.

The subgenus Dendrotipula was distributed in Palaearctic Region. Only eight species of the subgenus Dendrotipula Savchenko, 1964 were known to occur worldwide, two species were described in China. Based on new collections, we described one new species from Southwest China, Tipula (Dendrotipula) dorsigera Q.C. Yang, sp. nov. A key to the species of Tipula (Dendrotipula) from world is presented.