McAbee Fossil Beds
Arthropod order Super family/family Notes
Odonata Aeshnidae Darners ( dragonflies )
Odonata Megapodagrionidae Flatwing damselflies
Blattodea Blaberidae blaberid cockroaches
Isoptera Hodotermitidae harvester termites
Dermaptera earwigs
Orthoptera Prophalangopsidae Grigs
Orthoptera Tettigoniidae katydids
Hemiptera Aphididae aphids
Hemiptera Cicadellidae leaf hoppers
Hemiptera Cercopoidea spittlebugs
Neuroptera Chrysopidae Green lacewings
Neuroptera Chrysopidae Green lacewings
Neuroptera Chrysopidae Green lacewings
Neuroptera Chrysopidae Green lacewings
Neuroptera Hemerobiidae brown lacewings
Neuroptera Osmylidae osmylid lacewings
Coleoptera Cupedidae reticulated beetles
Coleoptera cf . Cantharidae soldier beetles
Coleoptera Cerambycidae long horned beetles
Palaeontology -- Insects and other arthropods
The fossil insects are particularly diverse and well preserved , and include an extinct bulldog ant Macabeemyrma ovata , [ 32 ] a species of green lacewing ( Neuroptera , Chrysopidae ) ( Archaeochrysa profracta ) , and stick insects ( Phasmatodea ) . [ 20 ] [ 33 ] [ 34 ] A species of fossil freshwater crayfish ( Aenigmastacus crandalli ) was described from the McAbee Fossil Beds . [ 35 ] The very high diversity of fossil insects in the McAbee fossil beds is comparable to that of modern-day tropical forest areas . [ 36 ] Most recently , fossil palm beetles ( Bruchidae ) were described from the beds , confirming the presence of palms ( Arecaceae ) in the local environment in the early Eocene . [ 37 ]
The McAbee Fossil Beds is a Heritage Site that protects an Eocene Epoch fossil locality east of Cache Creek, British Columbia, Canada, just north of and visible from Provincial Highway 97 / the Trans-Canada Highway (Highway 1) at 50°47.831′N 121°8.469′W / 50.797183°N 121.141150°W / 50.797183; -121.141150. The McAbee Fossil Beds, comprising 548.23 hectares (1,354.7 acres), were officially designated a Provincial Heritage Site under British Columbia's Heritage Conservation Act on July 19, 2012. The site is part of an old lake bed which was deposited about 52 million years ago and is internationally recognised for the diversity of plant, insect, and fish fossils found there. Similar fossil beds in Eocene lake sediments, also known for their well preserved plant, insect and fish fossils, are found at Driftwood Canyon Provincial Park near Smithers in northern British Columbia, on the Horsefly River near Quesnel in central British Columbia, and at Republic in Washington, United States. The Princeton Chert fossil beds in southern British Columbia are also Eocene, but primarily preserve an aquatic plant community. A recent review of the early Eocene fossil sites from the interior of British Columbia discusses the history of paleobotanical research at McAbee, the Princeton Chert, Driftwood Canyon, and related Eocene fossil sites such as at Republic.