Cretaceometra, Nel & Popov, 2000

Nel, A. & Popov, Y. A., 2000, The oldest known fossil Hydrometridae from the Lower Cretaceous of Brazil (Heteroptera: Gerromorpha), Journal of Natural History 34 (12), pp. 2315-2322 : 2316

Genus Cretaceometra gen. nov.

Type-species. Cretaceometra brasiliensis sp. nov., by monotypy.

Diagnosis. Body very elongate; head very slender, longer than thorax; antennae very long, at least twice as long as head; ®rst antennal joint relatively stout and long, shorter than twice length of head but surpassing the apex of the head by more than half of its own length; second joint a little longer and more slender than ®rst; third joint distinctly longer and threadlike; eyes semiglobular, about equal to distance between them; no visible ocelli; thorax very long and slender; pronotum longer than anteocular part of head; pronotal sides parallel; points of insertions of legs on thorax almost equally spaced longitudinally; legs slender and very long; hind leg about 1.3 times total length of body; prothoracic femur longer than head, almost equal to length of mesothoracic femur; metathoracic femur longer than the abdomen; tibia of each leg almost equal to length of femora; tarsi three-segmented, short and very slender; abdomen (as measured from the point of insertion of metathoracic leg to apex) about 2.1 times longer than body length; abdominal tergum without visible paired longitudinal ridges; abdominal mediotergites longer than broad; genital appendages of male clearly protuding from abdominal end and female small but distinct.

Etymology. Named after the cretaceous age of the fossil, and its family a nities.