Discovery of the first hydraenid beetle in amber, with description of a new genus and species (Coleoptera: Staphylinoidea: Hydraenidae)

The first fossil of the family Hydraenidae preserved in amber is described: Archaeodraena cretacea Jäch & Yamamoto, gen. et sp. nov. The description is based on a well-preserved adult found in Cretaceous amber from northern Myanmar (Burma). In general appearance, the new genus superficially resembles the extant genus Hydraena Kugelann, which is the largest water beetle genus in the world. The markedly long maxillary palpi and the presence of a fringe of long thin metatarsal setae in A. cretacea may imply that this extinct species was actually living in an aquatic habitat.