Gedanohelea fushunensis, Steber, Szadziewski & Wang, 2016

Stebner, Frauke, Szadziewski, Ryszard & Wang, Bo, 2016, Biting midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) in Fushun amber reveal further biotic links between Asia and Europe during the Eocene, Palaeontologia Electronica 31 (9), pp. 1-9 : 4

Gedanohelea fushunensis n. sp.

Figures 3.2, 3.4 , 4.1-6

zoobank/ E7DAEDF9-A71D-4AA7-B4CF-9B0126CA1971

Material. Holotype female NIGP156997 . Deposited at the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Etymology. The specific epithet refers to the city of Fushun near where the amber is collected.

Diagnosis. The species is characteristic in having cylindrical palpal segments 3 and 4 and wing veins M 1 and M 2 strongly divergent. Males unknown.

Description. Female. Dark brown in colour, partially distorted, wing venation only poorly visible. Total body length (including head): 1.2 mm.

Head. Flagellum length 0.37 mm. AR 0.95. Antenna with 13 cylindrical flagellomeres, distal 5 flagellomeres distinctly elongate, last flagellomere longest ( Figure 4.1 ). Flagellomere 12 appears enlarged but this most probably an artefact. Palpus ( Figure 4.3 ) short, with five segments, only terminal three palpal segments clearly visible, about 0.072 mm in length, palpal segments 3 and 4 cylindrical, palpal segment 3 with distinct sensory pit.

Thorax. Legs slender, unarmed. Hind basitarsus with row of palisade setae. Tarsomeres 2–4 short, tarsomere 4 cordiform, tarsomere 5 longer than preceding ones but shorter than combined length of tarsomeres 2–4. Tibial comb composed of six spines. Claws ( Figure 4.4-6 ) single on all legs, claw of foreleg as long as tarsomere 5, claws of mid- and hind leg shorter. TR(I) 2.86, TR(II) 3.50, TR(III) 3.57. Wing length: 0.65 mm, CR 0.47. Ratio of divergence between M 1 and M 2: 0.29. Veins poorly visible, M 1 and M 2 ( Figure 4.2 ) strongly divergent, M 1 meeting wing margin at right angle. Membrane without macrotrichia, microtrichia present.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Photograph of Gedanohelea fushunensis n. sp. and Gedanohelea liaoningensis n. sp. from lower Eocene Fushun amber 1. Gedanohelea liaoningensis n. sp., Holotype female NIGP156998. 2. Gedanohelea fushunensis n. sp., Holotype female NIGP156997. 3. Detail of wing of Gedanohelea liaoningensis n. sp. with tips of veins M1 and M2 marked. 4. Detail of wing of Gedanohelea fushunensis n. sp. with tips of veins M1 and M2 marked.

FIGURE 4. Gedanohelea fushunensis n. sp., Holotype female NIGP156997. 1. Flagellum. 2. Wing. 3. Palpal segments 3-5. 4. Tarsomeres 4, 5 and claw of foreleg. 5. Tarsomeres 4, 5 and claw of mid leg. 6. Tarsomeres 4, 5 and claw of hind leg.

FIGURE 5. Gedanohelea liaoningensis n. sp., Holotype female NIGP156998. 1. Flagellum. 2. Wing. 3. Palpal segments 3-5. 4. Tarsus of foreleg. 5. Tarsus of mid leg. 6. Tarsus of hind leg.

FIGURE 6. Palaeogeographic locations of early Eocene insect faunas in (approximately 50 Ma) Baltic amber (B) from Europe and Fushun amber (F) from China (modified after Blakey, 2015).