Scientists uncover earliest insects covered in pollen from 280 million years ago

An artistic reconstruction of tillyardembia feeding on a pollen cone a gymnosperm plant (Andrey Atuchin/Biology Letters)

Scientists believe they have uncovered the earliest insects to be covered in pollen, dating back to around 280 million years ago.

Palaeontologists in Russia discovered fossil remains of ancient earwig-like insects, known as tillyardembiids, in a lagoon near the village of Chekarda, about 1,600km from Moscow.