Styporaphidia

Last updated

Styporaphidia
Temporal range: Aalenian–Albian
ZooKeys-204-001-g006 Styporaphidia hispanica 01a.jpg
S.? hispanica holotype
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Raphidioptera
Family:† Mesoraphidiidae
Genus:† Styporaphidia
Engel & Ren, 2008
Species
  • S. magia
  • S.? hispanica

Styporaphidia is a genus of snakefly, belonging to the extinct family Mesoraphidiidae, containing up to three species, the type species Styporaphidia magia, [1] Styporaphidia willmanni and tentatively Styporaphidia? hispanica. [2] The genus was named from the Greek stypos meaning "stem" or "stump" and Raphidia , the type genus for, and most often used as, a stem for generic names in the order Raphidioptera. [1] The species name of S. magia is from the Greek word mageia meaning "magic" [1] while the species name for S.? hispanica is from the Latin Hispania meaning "Spain" in reference to the type locality of the species. [2]

Contents

S. magia

S. magia is known from only the holotype, a single specimen of undetermined sex, deposited in the Department of Biology, Capital Normal University, Beijing, China as specimen number NNS-200202. [1] Preserved as a compression fossil, the individual is fossilized in a resting position giving a top view to the body and wings. Paleontologiests Michael S. Engel and Dong Ren first studied and described S. magia and the co-occurring Ororaphidia and in 2008, publishing the type description in the Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society volume 81. [1] The S. magia holotype was found in the near Daohugou Village, Inner Mongolia, China in strata belonging to the Jiulongshan Formation. This formation is dated to the early middle Jurassic and specifically Aalenian to Bajocian in age. [1] The dating places S. magia and Ororaphidia as the oldest raphidiopterans known from China to date. [1]

With no ovipositor present and the terminal section of the abdomen absent it is not possible to identify the sex of the holotype specimen. The overall length of S. magia is 13 millimetres (0.51 in) and has a forewing length of 10 millimetres (0.39 in). [1] The head is longer than it is wide and is longer than the prothorax. Styporaphidia possesses the primitive feature of two crossveins in the pterostigma. [1] This feature is found in some mesozoic genera of the Baissopteridae. However it can be distinguished from the baissopterids the lack of numerous crossveins in the radial and medial fields of the wings. [1]

S.? hispanica

S.? hispanica is also known only from a holotype, specimen number MCNA 9343. The specimen is composed of a partial isolated hindwing and a partial abdomen preserved in a small fragment of amber. The fossil was recovered from outcrops of the Escucha Formation in Moraza, part of the Province of Burgos in Northern Spain. [2] S.? hispanica was first studied by group of paleoentomologists led by Ricardo Pérez-de la Fuente of the University of Barcelona and including Enrique Peñalver, Xavier Delclòs, and Michael S. Engel. Their 2012 type description of the species was published in the electronic journal ZooKeys . [2]

While little of the single specimen is preserved, the tip of the abdomen shows the insect was a male. Due to the proximity of the hindwing and abdomen the two are assumed to belong to the same individual. The section of hindwing present is 3.5 millimetres (0.14 in) long and 2.5 millimetres (0.098 in) wide. [2] Pérez-de la Fuente and coauthors tentatively placed the species into Styporaphidia based on the presence of two crossveins in the pterostigma. Two crossveins is a feature that is found in few described snakeflies and the preserved vein structure indicates placement within Mesoraphidiidae. Since the base of the pterostigma is not preserved it is not possible to firmly place the species into Styporaphidia. The two species are distinguished the finer details of the wing veins. [2]

S. willmanni

The holotype female for S. willmanni, CNU-RAP-LB-2017107 is preserved in the Capital Normal University College of Life Sciences collections in Beijing. The partially complete specimen is missing the distal half of the abdomen and most of he fore and hind wings on the left side. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Snakefly</span> Order of insects

Snakeflies are a group of predatory insects comprising the order Raphidioptera with two extant families: Raphidiidae and Inocelliidae, consisting of roughly 260 species. In the past, the group had a much wider distribution than it does now; snakeflies are found in temperate regions worldwide but are absent from the tropics and the Southern Hemisphere. Recognisable representatives of the group first appeared during the Early Jurassic. They are a relict group, having reached their apex of diversity during the Cretaceous before undergoing substantial decline.

<i>Nanoraphidia</i> Extinct genus of insects

Nanoraphidia is an extinct genus of snakefly in the family Mesoraphidiidae containing the species Nanoraphidia electroburmica and Nanoraphidia lithographica.

Fibla carpenteri is an extinct species of snakefly in the Inocelliidae genus Fibla. F. carpenteri is named in honor of the paleoentomologist Dr Frank Carpenter, for his vast knowledge and interest in Raphidioptera.

Electrinocellia is an extinct monotypic genus of snakefly in the family Inocelliidae containing the single species Electrinocellia peculiaris and known from Eocene aged Baltic amber.

<i>Florissantoraphidia</i>

Florissantoraphidia is an extinct genus of snakefly in the family Raphidiidae containing two described species Florissantoraphidia funerata and Florissantoraphidia mortua. Both species were originally placed in the living raphidiid genus Raphidia, as Raphidia funerata and Raphidia mortua respectively. before being redescribed and transferred to the newly erected genus in 2014.

Ororaphidia is an extinct genus of snakefly containing two species: the type species Ororaphidia megalocephala and Ororaphidia bifurcata.

<i>Archiinocellia</i> Extinct genus of snakeflies

Archiinocellia is an extinct genus of snakefly in the family Raphidiidae known from Eocene fossils found in western North America. The genus contains two species, the older Archiinocellia oligoneura and the younger Archiinocellia protomaculata. The type species is of Ypresian age and from the Horsefly Beds of British Columbia, while the younger species from the Lutetian Green River Formation in Colorado. Archiinocellia protomaculata was first described as Agulla protomaculata, and later moved to Archiinocellia.

Proraphidia is a genus of snakefly in the extinct family Mesoraphidiidae. The genus currently contains three species; Proraphidia gomezi from the La Pedrera de Rúbies Formation in Spain, Proraphidia hopkinsi from the Weald Clay in England, and the type species Proraphidia turkestanica from Kazakhstan. The genus was first described by O. M. Martynova in 1941 with the publication of P. turkestanica from Jurassic deposits of the Karabastau Formation in Karatau, Kazakhstan.

Kachinus is an extinct genus of ant-like stone beetle in the family Staphylinidae containing the single species Kachinus antennatus.

Formosibittacus is an extinct genus of hangingfly in the family Bittacidae and containing a single species Formosibittacus macularis. The species is known only from the Middle Jurassic Jiulongshan Formation, part of the Daohugou Beds, near the village of Daohugou in Ningcheng County, northeastern China.

Agulla mineralensis is an extinct species of snakefly in the raphidiid genus Agulla. The species is solely known from the Middle Miocene, late Bartovian stage, Pacific Union Site in the Stewart Valley Group, Mineral County, Nevada.

<i>Necroraphidia</i> Extinct genus of insects

Necroraphidia is an extinct genus of snakefly in the family Mesoraphidiidae. The genus is solely known from Early Cretaceous, Albian age, fossil amber found in Spain. Currently the genus comprises a single species, Necroraphidia arcuata.

<i>Amarantoraphidia</i> Extinct genus of insects

Amarantoraphidia is an extinct genus of snakefly in the family Mesoraphidiidae. The genus is solely known from Early Cretaceous, Albian age, fossil amber found in Spain. Currently the genus comprises only a single species Amarantoraphidia ventolina.

<i>Alavaraphidia</i> Genus of insects

Alavaraphidia is an extinct genus of snakefly in the family Mesoraphidiidae. The genus is solely known from an Early Cretaceous, Albian age, fossil amber found in Spain. Currently, the genus comprises a single species, Alavaraphidia imperterrita.

<i>Cantabroraphidia</i> Extinct genus of insects

Cantabroraphidia is an extinct genus of snakefly in the family Mesoraphidiidae. The genus is solely known from fossil amber found in Cantabria, northern Spain, dating to the Albian age of the Early Cretaceous Period. Currently the genus comprises a single species Cantabroraphidia marcanoi.

Baissoptera is an extinct genus of snakefly in the Baissopteridae family which was described by Martynova in 1961. Since 1961, it has been described three times; Carpenter in 1992, Ponomarenko in 1988 and Engel in 2002. According to J. Jepson et al. in 2011, the parent taxon is Baissopteridae. Fossils of the species have been found in Brazil, China, Spain and Russia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mesoraphidiidae</span> Extinct family of insects

Mesoraphidiidae is an extinct family of snakeflies in the suborder Raphidiomorpha. The family lived from the Late Jurassic through the Late Cretaceous and is known from twenty-five genera. Mesoraphidiids have been found as both compression fossils and as inclusions in amber. The family was first proposed in 1925 by the Russian paleoentomologist Andrey Vasilyevich Martynov based on Upper Jurassic fossils recovered in Kazakhstan. The family was expanded in 2002 by the synonymizing of several other proposed snakefly families. The family was divided into three subfamilies and one tribe in a 2011 paper, further clarifying the relationships of the included genera.

Lebanoraphidia is an extinct genus of snakefly in the family Mesoraphidiidae. The genus is solely known from Cretaceous, Upper Neocomian, fossil amber found in Lebanon. Currently the genus is composed of a single species Lebanoraphidia nana.

Iberoraphidia is an extinct genus of snakefly in the family Mesoraphidiidae. The genus is solely known from a Cretaceous, Lower Barremian, fossil found in Spain. Currently the genus is composed of a single species, Iberoraphidia dividua.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tarsophlebiidae</span> Extinct family of flying insects

The Tarsophlebiidae is an extinct family of medium-sized fossil odonates from the Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous period of Eurasia. They are either the most basal member of the damsel-dragonfly grade ("anisozygopteres") within the stem group of Anisoptera, or the sister group of all Recent odonates. They are characterized by the basally open discoidal cell in both pairs of wings, very long legs, paddle-shaped male cerci, and a hypertrophied ovipositor in females.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Engel, M.S.; Ren, D. (2008). "New Snakeflies from the Jiulongshan Formation of Inner Mongolia, China (Raphidioptera)". Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society. 81 (3): 188–193. doi:10.2317/JKES-802.19.1. S2CID   84348601.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Pérez-de la Fuente, R.; Peñalver, E.; Delclòs, X.; Engel, M.S. (2012). "Snakefly diversity in Early Cretaceous amber from Spain (Neuropterida, Raphidioptera)". ZooKeys (204): 1–40. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.204.2740 . PMC   3391719 . PMID   22787417.
  3. ↑ Xiumei Lu; Weiwei Zhang; Bo Wang; Michael S. Engel; Xingyue Liu (2020). "A new and diverse paleofauna of the extinct snakefly family Baissopteridae from the mid-Cretaceous of Myanmar (Raphidioptera)". Organisms Diversity & Evolution. 20 (4): 565–595. doi:10.1007/s13127-020-00455-y. S2CID   221182988.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.