Sisyroneurorthus aspoeckorum, Nakamine & Yamamoto & Takahashi & Liu, 2023

Nakamine, Hiroshi, Yamamoto, Shuhei, Takahashi, Yui & Liu, Xingyue, 2023, A remarkable new genus of Nevrorthidae (Neuroptera, Osmyloidea) from mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber of northern Myanmar, Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift 70 (1), pp. 113-120 : 113

Sisyroneurorthus aspoeckorum sp. nov.

Figs 1 , 2 , 3 , 4

Type material.

Holotype, an incomplete female adult (Fig. 1 ), one-third of left fore- and hind-wings lost due to over-polishing, preserved in approximately 9 mm × 5 mm × 4 mm parallelepiped-shaped, yellowish, somewhat cloudy amber piece; specimen accession number CAU-BA-NH-22001, deposited in the Entomological Museum, China Agricultural University (CAU), Beijing.

Type locality and horizon.

Hukawng Valley (26°21'33.41"N, 96°43'11.88"E), Kachin State, northern Myanmar; mid-Cretaceous, upper Albian to lower Cenomanian.

Etymology.

The new species is dedicated to Dr. Ulrike Aspöck and Dr. Horst Aspöck for their outstanding contributions to the systematics of Nevrorthidae .

Diagnosis.

As for the genus (vide supra).

Description.

Body. Length ca. 2.4 mm as preserved (measured from vertex to apex of the abdomen).

Head (Fig. 3A-C ). Vertex moderately domed, covered with thin setae. Eyes large, protruding laterally. Antennae: scapus relatively long, ca. four times as long as wide; pedicellus half length of scape; both scattered with thin setae; flagellum moniliform, composed of 24 flagellomeres, each with scattered fine setae (Fig. 3A ). Maxillary palpi with 4 palpomeres, terminal palpomere fusiform, acutely tapering at tip; labial palpi poorly preserved (Fig. 3B, C ).

Thorax. Pronotum short, slightly longer than head, ca. 1.3 times as long as wide, lateral margins with long thin setae on several small processes. Meso- and metathorax covered with thin setae.

Legs slender, covered with dense thin setae; tarsus five segmented, tarsomeres 1 and 5 almost same length and slightly longer than each of remaining tarsomeres.

Wings. Forewing (Fig. 2A ) hyaline, elongated oval, ca. 3.7 mm long, ca. 1.4 mm wide (right forewing). Distinct trichosors present on one-third apical wing margin (Fig. 3D ), obscured trichosors on posterior margin (Fig. 3E ); thin setae sparsely present on dorsal and ventral surfaces of longitudinal veins. Costal space distinctly broad near wing base, narrowed distally; all subcostal veinlets simple. ScP fused with RA at distal fourth by abrupt curve terminally. Subcostal space slightly widened distad. Proximal crossvein (1scp-r) located near origin of RP. RP divided into four branches, each of which has marginal branches, third (median) gradate series present, composed of two crossveins. Fourth (outer) gradate series present, composed of three crossveins. Three ra-rp crossveins (2ra-rp, 3ra-rp and 4ra-rp) present. M divided into MA and MP; base of MA rather weak; two medial crossveins (3ma-mp and 4ma-mp) present. Four r-m crossveins (1r-m, 2r-m, 3r-m and 4r-m) present. Cu divided into CuA and CuP; CuA with nine pectinate branches, basal third branch trifurcated marginally; CuP with only a marginal fork; cua-cup crossvein absent. Three m-cu crossveins (1m-cu, 2m-cu and 4m-cu) present. One cu-a crossvein (2cup-a1) present, oblique, anteriorly connecting base of CuP. Three anal veins present; A1 with only a marginal fork; A2 with three short marginal branches; A3 simple; two crossveins (1a1-a2 and 1a2-a3) present.

Hind-wing (Fig. 2B ) hyaline, elongated oval, ca. 3.3 mm long, ca. 1.3 mm wide (right hind-wing); not visible at distal third of anterior margin due to debris and poor preservation. Trichosors present from apical area to posterior wing margin; thin setae sparsely present on dorsal and ventral surfaces of longitudinal veins. Costal space narrowed; all subcostal veinlets simple. RP divided into four branches, each of which has marginal branches, there is only one gradate visible, composed of three crossveins. Three ra-rp crossveins (2ra-rp, 3ra-rp and 4ra-rp) present. M divided into MA and MP, one medial crossvein (4ma-mp) present. Three r-m crossveins (1r-m, 3r-m and 4r-m) present, basal 1r-m slightly long and weakly sinuate. Cu divided into CuA and CuP; CuA with distal half nearly parallel with posterior wing margin and bearing 10 pectinate simple branches; CuP simple; one cua-cup crossvein (2cua-cup) present. Two m-cu crossveins (1m-cu and 4m-cu) present. A1 and A2 simple, cu-a crossvein absent.

Abdomen (Figs 1 , 4 ). Poorly preserved, terminal segment unclear. Tergum 9 (Fig. 4 ) with lateral parts strongly produced posteriad. Gonocoxite 9 (Fig. 4 ) visible, well developed, flat, almost vertically directed dorsal, with apex slightly curved in lateral view. Ectoproct subtrapezoidal in lateral view.

Figures

Figure 1. Habitus of Sisyroneurorthus aspoeckorum gen. et sp. nov., holotype female (CAU-BA-NH- 22001) in mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber. A. Dorsal view; B. Left lateral view. Scale bars: 1.0 mm.

Figure 2. Wing venation of Sisyroneurorthus aspoeckorum gen. et sp. nov., holotype female (CAU-BA-NH- 22001) in mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber. A. Right forewing; B. Right hind-wing. Abbreviations. A (a) - anal vein; A 1 - A 3 - first to third anal vein; Cu (cu) - cubitus; CuA - cubitus anterior; CuP - cubitus posterior; M (m) - media: MA - media anterior; MP - media posterior; R (r) - radius; RA - radius anterior; RP - radius posterior; Sc (sc) - subcosta; ScP - subcosta posterior. Scale bar: 0.5 mm.

Figure 3. Details of Sisyroneurorthus aspoeckorum gen. et sp. nov., holotype female (CAU-BA-NH- 22001) in mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber. A. Left anterolateral view of head and antenna; B. Left anterolateral view of mouthparts; C. Right anterolateral view of mouthparts; D. Distinct trichosors present on apical wing margin in right forewing; E. Obscured trichoshors on posterior margin in right forewing. Abbreviations. lp - labial palpus; mp - maxillary palpus. Scale bars: 0.2 mm (A-C); 0.1 mm (D, E).

Figure 4. Terminalia of Sisyroneurorthus aspoeckorum gen. et sp. nov., holotype female (CAU-BA-NH- 22001) in mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber. A. Left lateral view of terminalia; B. Left lateral view of terminalia with white line indicating each segment, gonapophyses and gonocoxite; C. Right ventrolateral view of terminalia; D. Right ventrolateral view of terminalia with white line indicating each segment and gonapophyses. Abbreviations. e - ectoproct; gp - gonapophyses; gx - gonocoxite; S - sternum; T - tergum. Scale bars: 0.2 mm.