Burmempheria curvatavena Li, Wang & Yao, 2022

Hakim, Marina, Azar, Dany & Huang, Di-Ying, 2023, First record of fossil psocodeans in copula from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber, Zootaxa 5396 (1), pp. 74-93 : 83-84

Burmempheria curvatavena Li, Wang & Yao, 2022

Remarks. The two main diagnostic differences listed by Li et al. (2022) between Burmempheria curvatavena and the other species of Burmempheria are: 1) the ‘tibiae with three apical setae’; and 2) the ‘common stem M 1+2 extremely long, compared to fork M 1 +M 2 ’. Based on our observations of specimen CNU-PSO-MA2015003 (holotype of Burmempheria curvatavena ), tibiae do appear to have three apical spines—though also likely in the other species; refer to the Remarks sections above—, but the length of common stem M 1+2 compared to fork M 1 +M 2 is only clearly visible in one wing since the second forewing of the pair is apically twisted. Nonetheless, the fork in the twisted wing seems to be longer, which potentially suggests that the smaller fork is a teratism. With just a single specimen available for this species, no conclusive decisions can be reached.

We also note the presence of a three-angled basi-radial cell (as illustrated by Li et al., 2022: fig. 4E) in one hind wing, but four-angled in the second hind wing. The collection of future material will help to indicate which venation pattern is correct.

The abdomen is covered in impurities distally, which hinders the observation of the external genitalia. An accurate assignation of the gender of CNU-PSO-MA2015003 is difficult. Li et al. (2022) listed the specimen as male; on the other hand, we could not clearly observe any structures to suggest the presence of a hypandrium nor did we view the female external valvulae either, but we did note the presence of two distinct long setae pointed forwards, near the apical section of the abdomen. They are similar to those observed at the apex of the external valvulae in some empheriids (e. g., Baz and Ortuño, 2001: fig. 8D), therefore, the specimen might potentially be female, with the external valvulae possibly clustered together and to the abdomen but rendered hard to see by the impurities.

Burmempheria curvatavena could be synonymous to either Burmempheria densuschaetae or Burmempheria raruschaetae —or even both (refer to previous Remarks section). Otherwise, reliable characters are vital to maintain the validity of Burmempheria curvatavena . As data on this genus is still lacking or sometimes doubtful, we refrain for now from declaring any synonymies until more information can be collected.