NEDUBROVO
A New Insect-Bearing Fossil Site in Russia

Summer is indeed a good time for travelling; for it is hardly possible to stay and work in stone jungles, when temperature is rising up to 95F in shadow. Moreover, the great expedition to Baissa and some other remote fossil sites seemed to be failed that year. So we decided to spent a couple of weeks in the field collecting insects, both fossil and recent.

There are several nice places not far from Moscow, which are of particular interest for paleontologists. The locality of Nedubrovo is one of them. It was discovered by the geologist V.R. Lozovsky about thirty years ago, but only four insect remains were found by geologists and paleobotanists during the previous years so far. The series outcropped at the left bank of the Kichmenga River just near the Nedubrovo Village, Vologda Region, are represented by predominantly grey and predominantly red members. Insects are mainly found in the lower member and have been collected from several levels. The most diverse assemblage is recorded in the lense of marls at the very border between grey and red sequences. Very few insect fragments have been discovered in carbonate concretions at the base of the red member. The age of the series is most probable to be the earliest Triassic, but the latest Permian can not be excluded. Totally, 43 specimens have been collected in course of intensive field work. They represent Blattodea (3), Coleoptera (1), Homoptera (9), Grylloblattidae (8), Mecoptera (5), Insecta incertae sedis (17). Besides the insects, rare conchostracans, ostracods, plant fragments, and pollen are found. Tetrapod bones were previously recorded in the overlying conglomerates. The collection is partially described, while other specimens still await scrutiny.