Chenxiella, Liu, Yushuang, Ren, Dong & Prokop, Jakub, 2009

Liu, Yushuang, Ren, Dong & Prokop, Jakub, 2009, Discovery of a new Namurian archaeorthopterid from Ningxia, China (Insecta: Archaeorthoptera), Zootaxa 2032, pp. 63-68 : 64

Genus Chenxiella gen. nov.

Type species. Chenxiella liuae sp. nov.

Etymology. In honor of Miss Chenxi Liu, who is a young paleoentomologist studying fossil hymenopterans at Captial Normal University, the collector of the type specimen. Feminine in gender.

Diagnosis. Forewing: ScP anteriorly reticulate, ending on RA at distal third of wing; division RA and RP in basal fourth of wing, RA reaching anterior wing margin near apex; RP almost parallel to RA, and pectinate with one anterior branch and seven main posterior, most of them generally possess 2–3 secondary branches covering the whole wing apex, stem M + CuA long, division M and CuA distinct basally of the division of RA and RP; stem M diverging distally of division RA and RP; MA rather long, partly fused with RP, and then deeply bifurcated; simple MP terminally twigged; convex CuA emerging from convex M + CuA near the basal sixth of the wing, distally fused with CuPa; CuA fused with M at the very base of the wing, CuA + CuPa with eight main branches bearing two thirds of whole posterior wing margin; CuP divided into two branches (CuPa and CuPb), CuPa simple, fused with distal free part of CuA, area between CuPa and CuPb broad with a network of cells; CuPb divided into CuPbα and CuPbβ, CuPbα distally vanishing in a network. 1A with two terminal branches, and close to CuPbβ, 2A pectinate with five main branches; anal area distictly networks of cells and cross-veins between main veins reticulate.

Remarks. The new genus is very similar to Sinopteron Prokop & Ren, 2007, which was collected from the same locality and horizon in Xiaheyan Village. It differs from Chenxiella mainly by the combination of the following characters: (1) RP pectinated with one anterior branch and seven main posterior branches instead RP pectinated with two anterior branches and six main posterior branches in Sinopteron; (2) MA rather long and partly fused with RP, and then deeply bifurcated; instead MA deeply bifurcated, and anterior branch of MA partly connected with RP; and (3) CuPb terminally bifurcated instead simple, without terminal twigging in Sinopteron.