Chorotingioites, Wappler, Torsten, 2003

Wappler, Torsten, 2003, New fossil lace bugs (Heteroptera: Tingidae) from the Middle Eocene of the Grube Messel (Germany), with a catalog of fossil lace bugs, Zootaxa 374, pp. 1-26 : 8-9

Chorotingioites n. gen.

Type species: Chorotingioites priscus n. sp., monobasic.

Derivatio nominis: ­ ites, from the Greek for “like”, in reference to the similarity of this genus to Chorotingis of the tribe Ypsotingini. The name is masculine.

Diagnosis: Large specimen, ca. 4.8 mm. Body moderately oval quite elongated and slender.

Head reaching or almost reaching apex of antennal segment I, with 3 spines—1 dorsomedial and 2 occipital. Eyes globular, projecting laterally of the head. Antennae moderately long and thickened. Pronotum with three parallel carinae. Areolate posterior process well developed, elongated backwards along hemelytra covering whole clavi and approximately half of discoidal area. Macropterous form. Costal area moderately wide, along the entire length. Subcostal area nearly as wide as costal area, with three rows of cells in the widest par. Discoidal area in the widest place with 4 incompletely regular rows of cells. Sutural area (membrane) extremely widened forming the areolate membrane which consists in the broadest place of approximately 8–9 irregular rows of cells.

Comments: The presence of a cell­like hind outgrowth of the pronotum that completely covers the clavi and the absence of additional protruding transverse veins on the hemelytra indicates that Oblongomorpha n. gen. belongs to the subfamily Tinginae . The elongated head, even reaching the apex of the first antennal segment, and the presence of a dorsomedial and two occipital spines exclude Oblongomorpha from being a member of one of the tribes Tingini and Litatdeini. Further apomorphies of the Ypsotingini, such as the reduced or depressed clavi, is difficult to observe in fossils and their presence can neither be confirmed nor excluded. Based on the available evidence, however, I am most inclined to classify the fossil genus in the tribe Ypsotingini.

The type species C. priscus , is relative large (estimated length about 5 mm) compared to most members of the Ypsotingini. On account of the presence of longitudinal carinae on the pronotum, the narrow paranota, the general shape of the body, and the separation of the hemelytra in costal, subcostal, discoidal, and sutural areas, with a 2­seriated costal area along most of length of the discoidal area, the fossil species is seemingly more close related to the New World genera Chortingis Drake, and Euaulana Drake. The incomplete state of the material, however, does not permit an evaluation of its closer relationships. Both genera at present restricted to Australia and Tasmania ( Froeschner 2001).

The current classification of this tribe contains only 7 modern extant genera with 76 species ( Froeschner 2001). So far no representative of the Ypsotingini has been reported from the fossil record. Lace bugs belonging to the Ypsotingini mainly distributed in the Paleartic and Oriental zoogeographic regions ( Froeschner 2001; Péricart 1983; Péricart & Golub 1996).