The insects of the Winterswijk Muschelkalk

This article describes the insect fossils found in the Muschelkalk of Winterswijk. Amongst these finds is a beetle elytron, which constitutes the oldest known beetle fossil from the Netherlands. The other insect fossils from the Muschelkalk of Winterswijk that are also briefly discussed, include a dragonfly wing fragment and a complete cockroach wing. These finds make Winterswijk unique amongst Muschelkalk outcrops, no other Muschelkalk site has yielded so many insect fossils. These insect fossils also help us to better reconstruct the depositional environment at Winterswijk: these fi nds indicate more terrestrial influx in the top section of the Winterswijk quarry.