Merithone Montagna & Magoga, 2024

Montagna, Matteo, Magoga, Giulia & Magnani, Fabio, 2024, The Middle Triassic palaeontomofauna of Monte San Giorgio with the description of Merithone laetitiae († Permithonidae) gen. et sp. nov., Swiss Journal of Palaeontology (17) 143 (1), pp. 1-10 : 6

Genus Merithone Montagna & Magoga , gen. nov.

Type species: Merithone laetitiae sp. nov. by monotypy ( Fig. 3 ).

Code Zoobank: LSID urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:16C0A670-1BE5-44FD-BC6C-0E10C87C3045

Etymology: Meri - named after Meride, the village near the locality where the fossil has been collected; the suffix - thone from the type genus of the family † Permithonidae , Permithone Tillyard, 1922 . Gender feminine.

Diagnosis: the general habitus of the new taxon (new genus, new species) comprises a well-developed prothorax, shorter than meso- plus meta- thorax; the prognathous head capsule has prominent compound eyes and filiform antennae; the subequal membranous wings without pterostigma; the fore wings with broad costal area possessing several irregular veins from subcostal vein (SC) to costal margin (some distally bifurcated); the SC merging distally the radius (R), the radial sector (RS) with six primary branches; the medial anterior (MA) not coalesced with RS basally; the CUP apparently not deeply forked; and nygmata not visible prompts the ascription of the fossil to the family of † Permithonidae Tillyard, 1922 .

Comparison: The new genus differs from the previously described genera based on forewing shape and features. The forewings are elongate, more than two times (~ 2.7) as long as wide, not broad and markedly triangular as in Eopsychops Martynov, 1933 , Permithone , Permopsychops Tillyard, 1926 , and Permipsythone Pinto & de Ornellas, 1980 , not oval as in Lodevosisyra Prokop et al., 2015 . The costal area is wider in its first half, slightly restricted at the base, but not as strongly as in Palaemerobius Martynov, 1928 , Permegalomus Martynov, 1931 , Permipsythone and Permithonopsis Martynov, 1933 ; veinlets are present and branched in the proximal part of the wing, but not reticulated as in Permorapisma Tillyard, 1926 . The new genus is close to Lodevothone Prokop et al., 2015 , from which it differs in the presence of branched veinlets and less than seven Radial posterior branches, and to Permithonopsis .

Figures

Fig. 3 Merithone laetitiae (†Permithonidae) gen. nov., sp. nov. Scale bar, 1 mm