Palaeoentomology

New data and systematic considerations on the Blattogryllopterida (Insecta: Grylloblattida) from the Jurassic Daohugou locality in China

2023-04-12T14:16:59+12:00

The systematics of the Blattogryllopterida (Grylloblattida) from the Jurassic Daohugou locality (China) is reconsidered. The holotypes of Plesioblattogryllus magnificus and Duoduo qianae are examined and new synonymies are proposed: Plesioblattogryllus Huang, Nel & Petrulevičius, 2008 = Duoduo Cui, 2012, syn. nov.; Plesioblattogryllus magnificus Huang, Nel & Petrulevičius, 2008 = Duoduo qianae Cui, 2012, syn. nov. The holotype of Plesioblattogryllus minor Ren & Aristov, 2011 is reinvestigated and re-documented, and a new well-preserved single wing of this rare species, also uncovered from the Jurassic Daohugou locality, is described. Besides the holotype, it is the first specimen exhibiting well-exposed wing venation characters for the species. Particular characters, such as the desclerotised MP, are better observed and complemented by Reflectance Transforming Imaging documentation. The new specimen might be a hind wing with a reduced plicatum, a trait yet unknown in grylloblattids. Based on these new data it occurs that, in contrast to P. magnificus and most Blattogryllopterida, the species possesses a long RP+MA fusion, with a long basal free part of MA and a very short basal free section of RP. Together with other characters, it justifies the erection of new genus, Aristoviblattogryllus gen. nov., to accommodate the species Aristoviblattogryllus minor (Ren & Aristov, 2011), comb. nov.

New taxa of Sepulcidae (Hymenoptera) from mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber

2023-04-12T13:39:48+12:00

Three new species of the genus Prosyntexis Sharkey, 1990 in the extinct sawfly family Sepulcidae, Prosyntexis aristovi sp. nov., P. lata sp. nov. and P. antennata sp. nov., are described from five well-preserved specimens from the mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber. These new species, the first records of the family Sepulcidae in Kachin amber, are placed in Prosyntexis (Trematothoracinae) based on the mesonotum membranous centrally with sides ridge transversely; forewing with the basally arched M+Cu; basal third or half of costal space narrowed; and 2r-m absent. The conspecific male and female of Prosyntexis lata with well-preserved genitalia are reported for the first time in the family Sepulcidae. A key to fossil species of Prosyntexis is provided. These new findings improve our understanding of Prosyntexis by adding more morphological features, such as antenna with no fewer than 16 segments, basal and distal hamuli present, tibia apical spurs 1-2-2, etc. The new taxa suggest that the Sepulcidae should range in age from at least from the Middle Jurassic to the mid-Cretaceous.

Duraznoscytinum aristovi gen. et sp. nov., a new scytinopterid (Hemiptera: Cicadomorpha) from the Upper Triassic of Argentina

2023-04-13T11:44:58+12:00

A new scytinopterid (Hemiptera: Cicadomorpha), Duraznoscytinum aristovi gen. et sp. nov., is described. The specimen was recovered from the upper section of the Potrerillos Formation (Upper Triassic) at the Quebrada del Durazno locality, south of the Cerro Cacheuta, Cuyana Basin, in Mendoza, Argentina. This represents the first record of a complete forewing (tegminous + clavus) of a scytinopterid for the Triassic of South America. Additionally, we briefly discuss the Triassic scytinopterid distribution worldwide, and provide preliminary morphological differences observed between the taxa recorded in the Southern Hemisphere. The new fossil described herein contributes to the knowledge on the hemipterofauna diversity present at the south of the Cerro Cacheuta area during Early Mesozoic times.

The oldest known larvae of Megaloptera (Insecta) from the Triassic of Ukraine

2023-04-13T12:43:26+12:00

The oldest unquestionable fishfly, Izyumochauliodes aristovi gen. et sp. nov. (Corydalidae, Chauliodinae), is described based on several larval fossils from the Upper Triassic Garazhovka locality in eastern Ukraine (Seversky Donets River basin, Kharkiv Region). The new genus with a typical Chauliodinae structure of the abdomen is distinguished from all other genera of the subfamily by having the occipital suture ventrally directed forward along the gula and reaching the submentum, and by the shape of mandibula with evenly curved inner margin, both characters similar to Sialidae. Another, poorly preserved larva, found in the same locality, is attributed to Sialidae incertae sedis and also represents the oldest record of the family. The co-occurrence of fossil larvae of both known families in the same locality is the palaeontological evidence for the Triassic divergence of the extant megalopteran lineages.

A new family of grylloblattids (Insecta: Grylloblattida) from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber

2023-04-13T14:34:36+12:00

The new grylloblattid family Aristoviidae Storozhenko & Gröhn fam. nov., with the type genus and species Aristovia daniili Storozhenko & Gröhn gen. et sp. nov., is described from the lowermost Cenomanian amber (Hukawng Valley, Kachin State, northern Myanmar). The new family is similar to the Permian-Triassic family Megakhosaridae and the Permian-Jurassic Blattogryllidae but differs from both by the shape of pronotum and wing venation. Aristoviidae fam. nov. is also similar to the extant family Grylloblattidae in body structure, but can easily be distinguished from it by the presence of ocelli, large compound eyes and wings, as well as the lack of the transverse furrow which separates the anterior part of pronotum from its posterior part. The phylogenetic relationships between families Megakhosaridae, Blattogryllidae, Grylloblattidae, and a new family are briefly discussed.

**Redescriptions of the Triassic Notocupes beetles (Archostemata: Ommatidae) from Kyrgyzstan and South Kazakhstan**

2023-04-14T12:50:34+12:00

Four Triassic species of the ommatid beetles Notocupes are redescribed using an extended list of diagnostic characters from both published sources and original study. New diagnoses for the genus as well as for four Triassic species are provided with emphasis on discrete characters of cuticular sculpture and elytral venation. A brief overview of research history of Notocupes and of taxonomic issues associated with this species-rich genus is compiled. Several morphological characters useful for identification are discussed in detail, viz., body tubercles and their distribution on the body, main and intercalary elytral veins and pronotal shape.

**A third species of Plesioblattogryllus Huang et al., 2008 discovered in the Middle-Upper Jurassic Daohugou Beds (Insecta: Plesioblattogryllidae)**

2023-04-21T09:00:13+12:00

Here we describe a new species Plesioblattogryllus aristovi sp. nov. from the Middle-Late Jurassic Daohugou Bed and we restore the family Plesioblattogryllidae stat. rest. to its family status (previously junior synonymy of the family Blattogryllidae). This systematic change is supported by the crucial presence vs. absence of tarsal arolia. We also synonymize the monotypic genus Duoduo Cui, 2012 syn. nov. under Plesioblattogryllus Huang et al., 2008 and transfer it to the Plesioblattogryllidae, we transfer its type species Duoduo qianae to the genus Plesioblattogryllus. Finally, we discuss the interspecific variations in the forewing venation of the genus Plesioblattogryllus.

New and little known taxa of the order Orthoptera (Insecta) from the Upper Triassic and Lower Jurassic of England

2023-04-20T09:16:05+12:00

New material of Orthoptera from the Upper Triassic and Lower Jurassic of England is considered. Some problems with generic composition and diagnostics of the subfamily Protogryllinae (Protogryllidae) from the suborder Ensifera and of the subfamily Locustopsinae (Locustopsidae) from the suborder Caelifera are discussed. One new genus and two new species are described: Daniilacheta aristovi gen. et sp. nov. (Protogryllinae) and Plesioschwinzia sharovi sp. nov. (Locustopsinae). Some additional species, previously attributed to Locustopsis Handlirsch, are tentatively included in Plesioschwinzia Zessin. New specimens, possibly belonging to Locustopsis spectabilis Zeuner, are briefly described and illustrated.

**A new species of the Triassic genus Ideliopsina (Grylloblattida: Ideliidae) from the Ominé locality (Momonoki Formation, southwest Japan)**

2023-04-26T09:21:01+12:00

A new species of Grylloblattida, Ideliopsina aristovi sp. nov., is described from the Upper Triassic Ominé locality (Momonoki Formation, Mine Group, Japan). It belongs to a typical Triassic genus, Ideliopsina Storozhenko, 1996, which species have been previously reported from the Kyrgyz Republic and the Kazakhstan in Central Asia. The new species shows that the corresponding family, the Ideliidae ranging from the Cisuralian to the Late Triassic, remained widely distributed during the latter period, before its extinction.

Plectrocnemia aristovi sp. nov., a new fossil species of Polycentropodidae (Insecta: Trichoptera) from Eocene Rovno amber

2023-04-14T13:26:08+12:00

Forty-five species of caddisflies are known from Rovno amber (Ivanov et al., 2016; Perkovsky, 2017; Melnitsky et al., 2021a–c). The new 24 caddisfly species from 8 families (Psychomyiidae – 1, Polycentropodidae – 11, Ecnomidae – 2, Philopotamidae – 2, Hydroptilidae – 4, Phryganeidae – 1, Lepidostomatidae – 1, Leptoceridae – 3) of Rovno amber are described in recent papers of last decade (Melnitsky & Ivanov, 2010, 2013, 2016 a, b; Melnitsky et al., 2021a–c). The family Polycentropodidae includes more than 910 species in the world fauna, of which about 100 are fossils (Morse, 2023). The genus Plectrocnemia contains over 160 species; representatives of this genus are widespread in the Holarctic and Oriental realms. The genus Plectrocnemia is represented by 27 fossil species in the Paleogene resins of Europe, five of which are noted in Rovno amber (Melnitsky et al., 2021a). Three species: Plectrocnemia nastigermania Melnitsky & Ivanov, 2013, Plectrocnemia ucrainum Melnitsky & Ivanov, 2013, and Plectrocnemia kirmikhia Melnitsky, Ivanov & Perkovsky, 2021 are endemic to Rovno amber. Here we describe a new species from the genus Plectrocnemia from the Rovno amber.

**A new caddisfly species Kamopanorpa aristovi sp. nov. of the family Microptysmatidae (Insecta, Trichoptera) from the Middle Permian of Udmurtya, Russia**

2023-04-14T14:41:09+12:00

The family Microptysmatidae O. Martynova, 1958 is fairly widespread in the Permian of Eurasia. The oldest representatives of the family are known from the Sakmarian deposits of the Czech Republic (Lower Permian) (Kukalová-Peck & Willmann, 1990). Microptismatids have not yet been found in Mesozoic deposits.

Special issue dedicated to the memory of Dr Daniil Sergeevich Aristov (Front matter)

2023-04-26T10:58:44+12:00

To memory of Daniil Sergeevich Aristov (1979–2022): biography and list of publications

2023-04-26T10:46:35+12:00

On October 3, 2022, at the age of 43, the leading researcher of the Arthropod Laboratory of the Paleontological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Biological Sciences Daniil Sergeevich Aristov (Figs 1, 2) died suddenly. He was born on January 27, 1979 in the city of Perm (former USSR) in a family of scientists. His father, Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences Sergey Nikolayevich Aristov, worked as a chief researcher at the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and his mother, Tatyana Aleksandrovna Aristova, was a linguist engineer and was engaged in scientific translation. As a child, Daniel was interested in biology, read a lot of popular science literature, and his favorite author was Gerald Malcolm Durrell. Daniil was a creative person: while studying at school, he went to the children’s painting studio and the creative workshop “Woodcarving” and participated with his works in exhibitions in Perm and other cities of Russia.