Fossil Megaloptera (Insecta: Neuropterida) from the Lower Cretaceous Crato Formation of Brazil
Author
Jepson, James E.
Author
Heads, Sam W.
text
Zootaxa
2016
4098
1
134
144
journal article
49584
10.11646/zootaxa.4098.1.5
2f81987b-1113-44ba-b485-a5674af7f41c
1175-5326
265539
8C2A4435-C61A-4540-B670-47373A42823B
Genus:
Cratocorydalopsis
gen. nov.
Etymology.
Genus-group name formed from a combination of Crato, after the Crato Formation,
corydal
from
Corydalus
an extant genus of
Corydalidae
, and
—opsis
(from ὄψις) which means appearance.
Type
species.
Cratocorydalopsis brasiliensis
gen. et sp. nov.
Diagnosis.
Cratocorydalopsis
gen. nov.
differs from other genera of
Corydalidae
by a combination of the following characters: elongate forewing: length
26 mm
; wing colouration: dark apex and base, pale centre; broad hind wing; free branch of MA in hind wing, long, forming a long cell between it and R; crossveins within Rs and M regularly spaced forming two gradate series; MA forked near wing margin; MP1 forked; CuA deeply forked at midpoint; long sinuous cua-cup crossvein; No tibial spur.
Comparison.
The absence of a bilobed 4th tarsomere in
Cratocorydalopsis
gen. nov.
separates it from taxa in
Sialidae
and
Corydasialidae
.
Cratocorydalopsis
gen. nov.
can be separated from
Parasialidae
and further separated from
Sialidae
by its general wing venation.
Cratocorydalopsis
gen. nov.
has a medium length forewing, which is larger than
Cretochaulus
:
10 mm
,
Lithocorydalus
gen. nov.
:
17 mm
, but smaller than
Eochauliodes
:
30 mm
, and
Jurachauliodes
:
35 mm
. Its wing coloration differs from
Cretochaulus
(which is dark),
Lithocorydalus
gen. nov
, (which is very dark),
Eochauliodes
, which is hyaline with dark stripes, and
Jurachauliodes
, which has a possible wing colouration pattern of hyaline with some dark patches.
Cratocorydalopsis
gen. nov.
has the majority of Rs branches simple, the posterior branch of Rs in the forewing is not fully preserved (all branches are simple in hind wing),
Lithocorydalus
gen. nov.
has Rs branches all poorly preserved in forewing (terminations not preserved) and all simple in hind wing,
Cretochaulus
and
Eochauliodes
have Rs branches that are all forked, and
Jurachauliodes
has Rs branches that are all forked in the forewing, and in the hind wing all but one is forked. The broad hind wing in
Cratocorydalopsis
gen. nov.
is shared with all other fossil genera except
Lithocorydalus
gen. nov.
, which has a more elongate hind wing. The free branch of MA is present in the other fossil genera except
Eochauliodes
(possibly not preserved), which appears absent. The crossveins are numerous and irregularly spaced in
Eochauliodes
and
Jurachauliodes
, in
Cretochaulus
they are poorly preserved. The forking of MA near the wing margin in
Cratocorydalopsis
gen. nov.
differs from
Cretochaulus
and
Lithocorydalus
gen. nov.
, which have a simple MA. MP
1 in
Lithocorydalus
gen. nov.
is simple, in
Cretochaulus
and
Eochauliodes
it is forked, and
Jurachauliodes
differs by its MP1 forking twice. The structure of CuA is similar to
Cretochaulus
and
Jurachauliodes
, but differs from
Eochauliodes
, which forks more distally. The cua-cup crossvein in
Cretochaulus
and
Lithocorydalus
gen. nov.
is unknown, and in
Eochauliodes
it is absent,
Jurachauliodes
has two cua-cup crossveins, with one of the cua-cup crossveins being sinuous. The absence of a tibial spur in
Cratocorydalopsis
gen. nov.
is also observed in
Lithocorydalus
gen. nov.
, in
Cretochaulus
it is unknown, in
Eochauliodes
and
Jurachauliodes
it is present.