article_snippet: Scientists have uncovered the earliest fossilised evidence of an insect caring for its young.
article_snippet: The waxy ball like shapes on the abdomen of this 100 million year old insect Wathondra kotejai contain eggs and hatched nymphs and is thought  to be the earliest example of parental care in insects yet discovered .
article_snippet: Professor Bo Wang, a palaeontologist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences who led the research, said: 'Brood care could have been an important driver for the early radiation of scale insects, which occurred during the end of the Jurassic or earliest Cretaceous period during the Mesozoic era. '
article_snippet: Although analysis seemed to suggest that ancient insects evolved brood care, this is the first direct, unequivocal evidence for the fossil record.'
article_snippet: Fossilised evidence of animals caring for the young nymphs young is extremely rare, especially in insects.
article_snippet: Researchers believe Wathondara kotejai (above) may be one of the earliest insects to care for Wathondara young .
article_snippet: The only other direct evidence of brood care is from Cenozoic ambers, which are thought to only extend to around 65 million years ago.
article_snippet: Today many insects, such as ants and bees, care for many insects, such as ants and bees young, while the behaviour is far less common in mammals where just six per cent of species care for their young.
highlights_snippet: Sap-sucking scale insect called Wathondra kotejai is thought to be the earliest example of parental care in insects yet found .
  
highlights_snippet: Scientists hope Sap-sucking scale insect called Wathondra kotejai might shed light on how parental care of young evolved .