Afrocladus pumilio, Nel, Andre, Garrouste, Romain & Prokop, Jakub, 2015

Nel, Andre, Garrouste, Romain & Prokop, Jakub, 2015, The first African Anthracoptilidae (Insecta: Paoliida) near the Permian — Triassic boundary in Kenya, Zootaxa 3925 (1), pp. 145-150 : 146-147

Afrocladus pumilio sp. nov.

( Figure 1–2 )

Material. Holotype specimen NHM II 3070, Natural History Museum, London, UK.

Etymology. Named after the very small size of this wing.

Age and outcrop. Late Permian (?), Mombasa Basin, Lower unit of Maji ya Chumvi Formation, Duruma Sandstones series, Karoo supergroup, Kenya.

Diagnosis. Based on hind (?) wing venation only, wing shorter than that of Afrocladus kenyaensis , RP not closely parallel to RA near its base, CuA with only three anterior branches instead of four in Afrocladus kenyaensis .

Description. Single wing with costo-apical part missing, 5.5 mm long, 1.76 mm wide; simple, straight, concave ScP closely parallel to Radius, 0.1 mm apart, ending on costa 2.6 mm from wing base; area between ScP and costal margin narrow, 0.2 mm wide, without visible crossveins or veinlets; radial stem straight, with RP separating from RA 2.1 mm from wing base; RA straight, with apex missing; slightly concave RP with two visible branches; RP touching median vein near its base; slightly concave median vein divided into two parallel branches 1.7 mm from wing base; a brace m-cua between M and CuA 1.1 mm from wing base; CuA and CuP emerging from a common stem; convex CuA anteriorly pectinate with three parallel simple branches less convex than main stem of CuA; concave CuP simple, weakly curved with a rather narrow area between it and CuA, 0.35 mm wide; area between CuP and posterior wing margin 0.7 mm wide; first anal vein convex, simple, weakly curved; second anal vein with two posterior branches; two further anal veins more weakly indicated; several simple crossveins present between branches of M and RP; all branches of RP, M and CuA weakly curved and parallel.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Afrocladus pumilio gen. n. sp. nov., holotype NHM II 3070, photograph of wing, copyright NHM, London (scale bar represents 1 mm).

FIGURE 2. Afrocladus pumilio gen. n. sp. nov., holotype NHM II 3070, drawing of wing (scale bar represents 1 mm).