Cacurgoidea Handlirsch, 1911

Martins-Neto, R. G., Gallego, O. F., Brauckmann, C. & Cruz, J. L., 2007, A review of the South American Palaeozoic entomofauna Part I: the Ischnoneuroidea and Cacurgoidea, with description of new taxa, African Invertebrates 48 (1), pp. 87-101 : 98

Superfamily Cacurgoidea Handlirsch, 1911

Several Carboniferous families were established on very fragmentary material and therefore their exact systematic positions and affinities are far from clear. The family Cacurgidae Handlirsch, 1911 was originally proposed for Cacurgus Handlirsch, 1911 from the Pennsylvanian of Mazon Creek, Illinois ( USA). Carpenter (1943) as well as Brauckmann and Koch (1982) included Heterologus Carpenter, 1944 from Mazon Creek and Heterologopsis Brauckmann & Koch, 1982 from the Upper Namurian of Germany in this family. Cacurgulopsis Pinto &Adami-Rodrigues, 1995 from the Boituva locality (Paraná Basin, Upper Carboniferous of Brazil, discussed above) was additionally included by Pinto and Adami-Rodrigues (1995). However, Cacurgus , the type genus of the family, has ScP not distally fused with RA, a multibranched RA, origin of RP about 1/3 distally from the wing base, and therefore shows characters which are completely distinct from Heterologus , Heterologopsis , Cacurgulopsis and Taiophlebia , all of them with ScP and RA distally fused, unbranched RA, multibranched RP and origin of RP about 1/5 from wing base. Other families ( Ampelipteridae Haupt, 1940 for Ampeliptera Pruvost, 1927 , from the Upper Namurian of The Netherlands; Omaliidae Handlirsch, 1906 for Omalia van Beneden & Coemans, 1867 from the Westphalian of Belgium; and Carpenteropteridae Pinto & Ornellas, 1991 for Carpenteroptera Pinto, 1990 ) have the origin of RP 1/3 to 1/2 the distance from the wing base.