Densipsychops, Liu & Ren & Wang, 2025

Liu, Xiaotian, Ren, Dong & Wang, Yongjie, 2025, New Middle Jurassic Osmylopsychopidae (Neuroptera) from Northeastern China, Zootaxa 5723 (2), pp. 292-300 : 295

Genus Densipsychops gen. nov.

Type and only species. Densipsychops pectinatus sp. nov.

Diagnosis. Sc fused with RA distally; RP densely branches (about 30 branches), and most RP branches shallowly forked; MA simply branched with a few distal branches; MP and CuA pectinately branched near its middle part, sharing similar branching pattern; anterior branch of CuP pectinately branched, posterior branch of CuP deeply forked.

Etymology. From the Latin prefix Dens - (meaning “dense”), and - psychops, a traditional generic ending of Osmylopsychopidae , in reference to the dense veins of forewing. Gender is masculine.

Remarks. Densipsychops gen. nov. belongs to Osmylopsychopidae for sharing the distinct characters of this family, i.e. same broad wing shape, costal space distinctly narrowed towards end, and RP1 deeply branched. Moreover, this new genus can be easily distinguished from other osmylopsychopid genera by its shallowly forked RP branches ( vs. most RP branches deeply forked in Archepsychops , Brongniartiella , Daopsychops , Eupypsychops , Osmylopsychoides , Petropsychops , Triassopsychops and Undulopsychopsis ) ( Peng et al., 2011; Lambkin, 2014; Peng et al., 2015; Khramov et Makarkin, 2015), simple MA with a few distal branches ( vs. MA forked near wing base or middle part in Gayndahpsychops, Minipsychops and Nipponopsychops ) ( Lambkin, 2014; Khramov et al., 2024; Liu et al., 2023), more than ten pectinate MP near middle part (vs. MP forked with less than five branches distally in Nematopsychops , Osmylopsychostoechus and Psychostoechotes ) ( Peng et al., 2015; Khramov et Makarkin, 2015) and CuP deeply forked several times near wing base (vs. CuP deeply forked only 1–2 times in Osmylopsychops , Ochropsychops and Puripsychops ; CuP forked once time distally in Stenopteropsychops ) ( Ellenberger et al., 1952; Peng et al., 2015).