Kinitocelis macroptera MEY & WICHARD, 2020

Mey, Wolfram, Wichard, Wilfried, Müller, Patrick & Wang, Bo, 2020, Descriptions of two new species of Tarachoptera from Burmese amber (Insecta, Amphiesmenoptera: Tarachoptera), Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 70 (1), pp. 181-188 : 182-184

Kinitocelis macroptera MEY & WICHARD , spec. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:E0B1624A-C69E-4B53-851F-4368AC21C614

( Figs 1–4 , 9 )

Material: Holotype, male, Burmese Amber , BUB 2746, deposited in Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin, Germany, MfN, ( MB.I. 7341).

Preservation: The fossil is embedded in an oval and polished piece of amber. The adult insect is completely preserved and clearly visible in dorso-ventral aspect. The hindwings are covered by the somewhat bent forewings. Some bubbles of air are present on the ventral side close to the abdominal tip.

Etymology: The name refers to the large size of the wings qualifying the species as the largest one in Tarachoptera .

Description: Length of forewing 5.1 mm, len gth of hindwing 4.8 mm; head elongate and somewhat flattened dorso-ventrally, with erect scales on vertex, starting above tentorial pits and encircling an oval, smooth area with a medial depression; vertex with semi-erect scales on both sides of epicranial suture; eyes rounded, hemispherical; antenna long, scape short, as long as eye diameter, scaled dorsally, flagellum with 29 broad and scaled flagellomeres, barrel-shaped in the first half, becoming shorter apically; maxillary palpi very short, three segmented, of equal length, last segment pointed; labial palpi long, three-segmented, terminal segment longest, not enlarged apically, with long hairs, apex pointed; mandibles not visible; labrum large, produced medially as a quadrangular and voluminous organ with triangular tip, maxilla besides maxillary palpi with lobes (galea?) close to peroral cavity.

Cervix without visible, dorsal sclerites; pronotum divided into anterior and posterior, transversal plates; mesonotum with triangular scutellum and broadly rounded tegulae. Legs without spurs and smaller spines on all tibiae, tarsal segments with terminal pair of ventral bristles, praetarsus with slender ungues; wings with rounded apices and short fringes on termen, forewings densely scaled at costal and subcostal veins ( Fig. 9c ), and in radial cell (RC), jugum not visible, venation as in Fig. 1 : forewing with long, undivided Sc and subapical crossvein sc-r; radial cell (RC) somewhat arched between bases of R2 and R3, media (M) undivided, crossvein r-m weak, hardly visible, crossvein m-cu1a long, fused to Cu1a after bifurcation of Cu1a and Cu1b; two anal veins (A1, A2) present, apparently with basal loop.

Male genitalia ( Figs 4 , 9b ): comb of stiff spines present on ventro-caudal margin of segment VIII or IX; dorsal side of genitalia roof-like and quadrangulate, slightly curved ventrad.

Diagnosis: By using the identification key of MEY et al. (2018) the new species runs to Kinitocelis sparsella MEY et al. (2018) and K. divisinotata MEY et al. (2017) . Both species are morphologically similar and seems to be the closest relatives of K. macroptera spec. nov. The new species is distinguished from K. sparsella by uniform coloration of wing scales, the larger number of flagellomeres and by the length of the crossvein m-cu1a in the forewings, which is as long as Cu1b. From K. divisinotata the new species differs by the much shorter labial palpi with a pointed terminal segment and by the short scape length, which is not longer than the following two segments together. The absence or presence of forked Sc in the hindwings would provide an additional, distinguishing character of the new species, but the venation is not visible. Finally, K. macroptera spec. nov. is clearly larger than all congeneric species. It is the largest of all Tarachoptera species described to date.

MEY, W.; WICHARD, W.; MÜLLER, P. & WANG, B.: DeSCripTiONS OF TWO NeW SpeCieS OF Tarachoptera FrOm BurmeSe amber

costal region of forewing.

Figures

Figs 1–4: Kinitocelis macroptera spec.nov.: (1) forewing venation; (2) head and mouthparts, ventral; (3) head and pronotum, dorsal; (4) abdominal tip, ventro-lateral.– Figs 5–8: Retortocelis spicipalpia spec. nov.: (5) wing venation; (6) head, ventral; (7) head, dorsal; (8) abdominal tip, ventral.

Fig. 9: Microphoto of Kinitocelis macroptera spec. nov., holotype: (a) dorsal view; (b) tip of abdomen, ventro-lateral view; (c) scaled