Lasiopsychops, Bai & Chang & Shih & Ren & Wang, 2019

Bai, Haiyan, Chang, Yu, Shih, Chungkun, Ren, Dong & Wang, Yongjie, 2019, New silky lacewings from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber (Insecta: Neuroptera Psychopsidae), Zootaxa 4661 (1), pp. 182-188 : 183

Genus Lasiopsychops gen. nov.

(Figs. 1,2)

Type and only species. Lasiopsychops impunctatus sp. nov.

Diagnosis. Forewing easily separated from those of other species of Psychopsidae by a combination of the following character states: (1) costal space broad throughout (vs. narrowed distad in some Mesozoic genera); (2) most costal cross-veins deeply branched (vs. distally branched or unforked in the other genera); (3) absence of the interlinked veinlets between costal cross-veins (vs. general presence of the veinlets in other psychopsid genera); (4) three sc-ra cross-veins sparsely present (vs. often many sc-ra cross-veins present in other psychopsid genera); (5) most RP branches dichotomously branched (vs. RP branches often simply branched in distal in extant and Cenozoic genera); (6) forewing cross-veins in radial space irregularly arranged, not forming long gradate series of cross-veins (vs. gradate cross-veins series present in most psychopsid genera); (7) forewing CuA and CuP forming multiple dichotomous branches distally (vs. pectinate with numerous branches in most psychopsid genera).

Etymology. The generic name is derived from the combination of the Greek prefix “ lasio- ” (meaning hairy), referring to the densely hairy wing and body and the common suffix “ psychops ” of the Psychopsidae . Gender is feminine.

Remarks. The new genus belongs to the Psychopidae based on the following apomorphic characters: forewing broadly triangular, costal space broad throughout and presence of the basal nygma and vena triplica. The new genus is easily distinguished from Electropsychops based on the shape of forewing, broad costal space and costal gradate series absent. Although the other Burmese amber genus Litopsychopsis only has fragmentary wings preserved, the well-defined gradate series in Litopsychopsis is conspicuously different from that of the new genus ( Engel & Grimaldi 2008). Lasiopsychops gen. nov. is distinguished by the deeply forked RP branches that rarely occur in extant and Eocene species of Psychopsidae , but often occur in the Mesozoic psychopsids ( Makarkin 2018). This feature was also widely recorded in the related family Osmylopsychopsidae , indicating that the complicated branches of RP should be the primitive character among psychopsid-like insects.