Bipectinata orientalis Wichard et al., 2020b, 2023

Wichard, Wilfried, 2023, Fossil Trichoptera embedded in mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber, Contributions to Entomology 73 (2), pp. 167-179 : 167

Bipectinata orientalis Wichard et al., 2020b comb. nov.

Fig. 5

Systematic position.

Bipectinata orientalis was not originally placed in the family Odontoceridae , but was initially assigned to Calamoceratidae (Wichard et al. 2020), because the presence of wing fork IV on the forewing is not common to extant Odontoceridae . Nevertheless, characteristic features of the family Odontoceridae are synapomorphically present in the genus Bipectinata , such as five-segmented maxillary palps with a terminal segment not flexible or annulated, lack of ocelli, tibial spur formula 2/4/4; in forewings fork I present, discoidal cell closed and median cell absent. In addition, genus Bipectinata is closely related to the odontocerid genus Palaeopsilotreta , whose common synapomorphies involve a variable forewing media and the bipectinate antennae (Fig. 5B ).

In trichopteran adults a complete set of five apical forks on the forewings is clearly a plesiomorphic character ( Comstock 1918; Holzenthal et al. 2007). A reduction of the original wing venation and the reduction of apical forks are derived in many adults, especially within the superfamily Leptoceroidea . However, the extinct Bipectinata orientalis from the middle Cretaceous is characterized by the original arrangement of five apical forks in the forewing venation (Fig. 5C ). This feature distinguishes it from the closely related species of the genus Palaeopsilotreta .

Figures

Figure 5. Bipectinata orientalis Wichard et al., 2020 b. A. Male in ventral view; B. Bipectinate antenna; C. Plesiomorphic forewing venation with five apical forks.