Longicollum, Jepson & Khramov & Ohl, 2018

Jepson, James E., Khramov, Alexander V. & Ohl, Michael, 2018, New Mesomantispinae (Insecta: Neuroptera: Mantispidae) from the Jurassic of Karatau, Kazakhstan, Zootaxa 4402 (3), pp. 563-574 : 565

Genus: Longicollum gen. nov.

Type species. Longicollum benmaddoxi gen. et sp. nov.

Etymology: From the Latin longus, long and collum, neck. In reference to the specimens elongate prothorax.

Holotype. PIN 2784 1056. Complete specimen, with wing venation and raptorial forelegs preserved.

Diagnosis. Pronotum very elongate, 2.8x longer than wide; Forefemur widened at proximal end, hooked prostrate setae on foretibia; foretibia and foretarsus combined, longer than forefemur. Forewing: humeral vein multibranched; MP simple most of length; CuP non-pectinate. Colour pattern represented by four small spots.

Comparison. Differs from all other Mesomantispinae genera by possessing a very elongate pronotum, 2.8x longer than wide [other genera slightly elongate: ranging from 1.1x–1.5x longer than wide]. Differs from Archaeodrepanicus , Sinomesomantispa , Clavifemora , and Mesomantispa in RA and RP being curved towards wing apex at a an angle [RA and RP appears almost horizontal in these genera], and non-pectinate deeply forked CuP. Further differs from Archaeodrepanicus , Sinomesomantispa , and Clavifemora in having the foretibia and foretarsus combined being longer than the forefemur. Differs from Clavifemora and Ovalofemora gen. nov. in having a slender forefemur [ Clavifemora : greatly enlarged, club like; Ovalofemora gen. nov.: elongate, oval]. The presence of large hooked prostrate setae on the foretibia separates it from all other genera except Ovalofemora gen. nov. and Karataumantispa .

Remarks. The genus has been placed within Mesomantispinae because it possesses all diagnostic characters of the subfamily (see revised diagnosis in Jepson et al., 2013), with the exception of not possessing a relatively short pronotum. The long length of the pronotum is the major diagnostic character of Longicollum gen. nov. This very elongate pronotum, however, does not warrant the exclusion of Longicollum gen. nov. from Mesomantispinae , as this character has been observed to vary among genera within the same subfamily in extant taxa of Mantispidae , for example Mantispinae . In Mantispinae the genus Nampista Navás, 1914 has a much shorter pronotum than other members of the subfamily, which have very elongate pronota. However, species within a genus do not have such great variation in the length of their pronota, therefore this character warrants placement within its own genus.