A tiny fossil representative of Insecta from the Permian with an unusually regularly segmented trunk

Abstract The myriad representatives of the group Insecta dominate modern day terrestrial ecosystems. The fossil record of Insecta dates back to the Devonian, with large diversification events and correspondingly diverse fossil record in the Carboniferous and Permian. The reconstructed ground pattern condition of Insecta includes a posterior trunk, abdomen, with eleven segments. Yet, no modern nor fossil form is so far known to possess a regularly segmented abdomen with eleven segments, as especially the further posterior ones are either reduced to a certain degree or conjoined to further anterior ones. We present here a new, very small fossil representative of Insecta from the Permian Saar-Nahe Basin (Germany), which exhibits such a regular abdomen segmentation with eleven segments. The specimen is preserved as part and counterpart, which were virtually combined to achieve a complete presentation. As the specimen does not bear any indications of appendage structures on the abdomen, we presume that it is not a non-pterygotan, as these are characterised by appendage remains on the abdomen segments. The morphological details of the new fossil more likely point to the specimen representing an immature individual, or larva, of a species of Holometabola, possibly of a beetle. If the specimen represents indeed a larva, it would be the smallest larva known from the Permian to date.