Lysistrata emerita Grimaldi & Arillo

Grimaldi, David A., Arillo, Antonio, Cumming, Jeffrey M. & Hauser, Martin, 2011, Brachyceran Diptera (Insecta) in Cretaceous ambers, Part IV, Significant New Orthorrhaphous Taxa, ZooKeys 148, pp. 293-332 : 295

Lysistrata emerita Grimaldi & Arillo sp. n. Fig. 1

Diagnosis.

As for the genus.

Description.

Body length 5.75 mm. Head length 0.60 mm. Specimen well preserved, but only visible in lateral view. Head slight distorted, with right antenna slightly separated from base. Eyes bare, large, covering most of head; facets not differentiated. Ocellar triangle not visible. Antenna submoniliform, with approximately 7 short flagellomeres tapered in width distad (articulations between 3 basal flagellomeres faint, number of articles difficult to discern); length of antenna approximately equal to length of head; length of flagellum 3 × that of scape + pedicel combined. Distal flagellomere distinctly longer and narrower than more basal ones. Palpi reduced, segmentation not discernable; labellum well developed. Thorax: Mesonotum short and compact, finely pilose dorsally, without macrosetae. Scutellum without spines. Surface of notum slightly metallic and foveolate. All legs preserved; protibia lacking spurs; mesotibia with two apical spurs (50 µm long); probably one short apical spur on metatibiae. Length of hind basitarsomere equal to that of tarsomeres 2-5. Wing length 3.05 mm, width 0.75 mm; hyaline, vein Sc straight, length approximately 0.45 × wing length, complete. Lengths of costal section of wing between apices of R2+3 and R1 equal to that between R1 and Sc. R2+3 arising distant from r-m. R4+5 straight, R4 curved at base, long and subparallel to R5. Veins M1 and M2 separated at discal cell. Cell m3 absent, vein M3 either absent or fused to CuA1. Abdomen elongate; basal 4 or 5 segments large and wide; apical 5 segments narrow and telescoping. Cercus composed of 2 segments, basal segment longer than apical one.

Type.

Holotype, female, MCNA 12698, SPAIN: Alava, Peñacerrada I (Moraza), Escucha Formation, Lower Cretaceous (Albian). Deposited in MCNA. Specimen is well preserved in a clear piece of amber 10 × 7 × 1.5 mm, partially missing the left side of the thorax and the left wing; the amber is embedded in epoxy 15 × 13 × 2 mm. An empidoid fly ( Microphorinae ) is present as a syninclusion.

Etymology.

From the Latin noun, Emeritus , a name given to retired Roman soldiers, used here in reference to this long-retired (i.e., extinct) species.