Ovalofemora abbottae, 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 : 567-570

Ovalofemora abbottae gen. et sp. nov.

Figure 2

Etymology. Named in honour of Bryony Abbott, amateur naturalist. A noun in the genitive case. Holotype. PIN 2239 1727. Complete specimen, with wing venation and raptorial forelegs preserved. Diagnosis. Differs from O. monstruosa with the combination of the following characters: Small size, forewing 8.5 mm long. RA veinlets cover a smaller area, Sc curves towards RA more distally; fewer branches of RP; Cu forks more distally. Larger forefemoral spines.

Comparison. It is difficult to compare the venation of O. abbottae gen et sp. nov with O. monstruosa due to the poor preservation of the latter. However, some venational differences have been observed such as Sc curving more distally in O. abbottae gen et sp. nov, which forms a smaller area of RA veinlets. Cu vein forks into CuA and CuP more distally than O. monstruosa . The size difference also separates the species: O. monstruosa has a 15–16 mm forewing length, while O. abbottae gen et sp. nov has a wing length of 8.5 mm. The forefemoral spines of O. abbottae gen et sp. nov are relatively larger than O. monstruosa .

Description. Body. Head 1.1 mm long, eyes preserved as dark halos. Antenna not preserved. Pronotum, elongate, 1.1 mm long. Mesothorax poorly preserved, incomplete. Metathorax and abdomen difficult to determine. Forelegs. Coxa 1.7 mm long. Trochanter, stout, 0.4 mm long. Femur, incomplete, enlarged 2.2 mm preserved length, with one row of long equally sized spines. Tibia incomplete, 1.7 mm preserved length, with hooked setae. Tarsus incomplete, 0.5 mm long.

Wings. Poorly preserved, all four wings overlapping, only forewing venation can be interpreted. No crossveins are preserved. Forewing 8.5 mm long, 3.4 mm wide. Costal space poorly preserved, four subcostal veinlets observed, recurrent humeral vein multi-branched, costal area narrowed distally. Sc long curving towards RA distally not fusing. Subcostal space narrow proximally and dilated distally. RA long, six RA veinlets preserved distally. RP with at least seven branches, poorly preserved. RP preserved branches simple for most of length, forking distally. M fused with R distally. M deeply forked. MA and MP parallel for most of length, forking distally. MA dichotomously forked, MP forking twice. Cu origin not preserved, appears slightly curved proximally. Cu deeply forked. CuA pectinately branched with four branches, all forked, second branch pectinately branched. CuP poorly preserved. AA1 partially preserved, other anal veins not preserved. Colour pattern: three large spots around M and CuA. Trichosors present.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Ovalofemora abbottae gen. et sp. nov. A. photograph of whole specimen. B. drawing of forelegs, head and prothorax.C. photograph of forelegs. D. Labelled wing venation drawing.Unlabeled scalebars 1 mm.