Kujiberotha, Nakamine, Hiroshi & amamoto, Shuhei, 2018

Nakamine, Hiroshi & amamoto, Shuhei, 2018, A new genus and species of thorny lacewing from Upper Cretaceous Kuji amber, northeastern Japan (Neuroptera, Rhachiberothidae), ZooKeys 802, pp. 109-120 : 109

Genus Kujiberotha gen. n.

Type species.

Kujiberotha teruyukii sp. n.

Etymology.

The new genus name is a combination of Kuji City (type locality of this specimen) and the generic name Berotha. Gender feminine.

Diagnosis.

Antennae moniliform, with at least 50 flagellomeres; forelegs raptorial, profemur long (ca. 1.9 mm), protibia covered with dense fine setae becoming slightly longer towards distal on dorsal edge, together with at least six short spines on ventral edge, probasitarsus with nine small spine-like setae on external ventral ridge; wings with fine setae densely on surface of each vein.

Differential diagnosis.

Kujiberotha gen. n. can be distinguished from the six paraberothine genera ( Paraberotha , Raptorapax , Creagroparaberotha , Eorhachiberotha , Rhachibermissa , and Albertoberotha ) by having much larger number of the flagellomeres of the antenna ( Kujiberotha has over 50 antennal flagellomeres, while these genera have only 20-32 ones). From Alboberotha and Micromantispa , our new genus can be separated by having greater number of the spine-like setae on the probasitarsus ( Kujiberotha has 9 setae on the probasitarsus, but there are only two such setae in Alboberotha and Micromantispa ). Kujiberotha can be further discriminated from Scoloberotha , Spinoberotha , and Chimerhachiberotha based on the numbers of spines on the protibia ( Kujiberotha has at least six spines, whereas Scoloberotha has only three; Spinoberotha has numerous sharp spines on the inner edge disposed in two rows; and, those of Chimerhachiberotha are comprised of numerous short setae). Furthermore, the probasitarsus of Kujiberotha is not distinctly elongated, while that of Scoloberotha is markedly elongated, even longer than the combined length of succeeding tarsomeres. Finally, Kujiberotha can be separated from Retinoberotha by the structure of the profemora. Namely, Kujiberotha has at least six long spines and numerous short spines on the ventral edge of the profemora; however, Retinoberotha alternatively has seven short, thin spines or fine setae on the inner lateral edge and they are restricted to the median area of the protibia ( Schlüter 1978: fig. 37).

Systematic placement.

When this fossil was originally excavated in 2006 by Mr Kazuhisa Sasaki (the former director of the Kuji Amber Museum), it was identified as a member of the order Mantodea and this assignment has been believed to be correct until our study. In a recent summary of the fossil records of Mantodea ( Delclòs et al. 2016), this undescribed fossil was placed as "Family incertae sedis" within Mantodea . However, we determined this fossil to be a thorny lacewing ( Rhachiberothidae : Paraberothinae) based on the following morphological character states: antennae moniliform (filiform in Mantodea , except some taxa of Coptopterygidae , Empusidae , Hymenopodidae , Mantidae , Stenophyllidae , and Toxoderidae ); probasitarsus with its external ventral ridge bearing several small spines and one long spine ( Mantodea has a slenderer basal segment of the tarsus, lacking such spines); and simple wing venation ( Mantodea usually has many crossveins). It is well known that Rhachiberothidae has a clearly raptorial-shaped foreleg, therefore this family can be easily distinguished from Berothidae (except Mesithoninae) ( Aspöck and Mansell 1994). The synapomorphy of Paraberothinae is the presence of at least two spines on the inner edge of the protibia (usually with numerous spines; Nel et al. 2005a; Makarkin 2015a). However, there is no report for the presence of these protibial spines from all fossil and extant species of Mantispoidea (except Paraberothinae; uncertain in Mesoberothidae ): namely, Rhachiberothinae, Oisea , Berothidae (including Mesithoninae), and Mantispidae ( Aspöck and Aspöck 1997; Makarkin and Kupryjanowicz 2010; Makarkin 2015a, b). It is therefore noteworthy that Kujiberotha gen. n. has at least six spines on the inner edge of the protibia. This character alone supports the placement of Kujiberotha gen. n. within Paraberothinae.