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Mantispa? damzenogedanica sp. nov., holotype MG/B/1172, volume renderings based on SRµCT. A. Pronotum, dorso-oblique view; B. Pronotum, lateral view.
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Mantis lacewings (Neuroptera: Mantispidae) are prominent and charismatic predatory representatives of Insecta. Nevertheless, representatives of the group are surprisingly scarce in Paleogene deposits after a relative abundance of specimens known from Creta-ceous. Here we present Mantispa? damzenogedanica sp. nov., representing the first adult of Ma...
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Limnichidae are currently a moderately diverse beetle family with a sparse fossil record. Here we describe a new limnichid genus and species, Anomocephalobus liuhaoi Li, Jäch & Cai gen. et sp. nov., from the mid-Cretaceous amber from northern Myanmar. Anomocephalobus gen. nov. is tentatively assigned to the extant subfamily Cephalobyrrhinae, based...
Citations
... In contrast to their butterfly-like Mesozoic relatives, all living Neuroptera have mostly unmodified chewing mouthparts ). To take another example, the highly specialised raptorial legs of Mesozoic mantispids indicate modes of capture strategy lost during the subsequent evolution of the family (Lu et al. 2020;Shi et al. 2020; Baranov et al. 2022). ...
... Nonetheless, recent molecular and morphological studies recovered Symphrasinae as a subfamily of Rhachiberothidae, making Mantispidae non-monophyletic (Winterton et al. 2018;Ardila-Camacho et al. 2021). Even though thorough morphological data (Ardila-Camacho et al. 2021) and genomic scale data (Winterton et al. 2018) support the new position of Symphrasinae, several authors who recently described extinct species of Mantispoidea (Nakamine et al. 2021;Jouault 2022;Jouault et al. 2022;Baranov et al. 2022;Li et al. 2022) still follow the classification of Lambkin (1986a, b). In addition, previous phylogenetic studies based on different data systems (Lambkin 1986a;Liu et al. 2015;Shi et al. 2019;Lu et al. 2020) recovered Drepanicinae as sister to Calomantispinae + Mantispinae; however, the same aforementioned studies support Mantispinae as sister to Drepanicinae + Calomantispinae, with the latter two probably representing a single subfamily (Winterton et al. 2018;Ardila-Camacho et al. 2021). ...
The genus Climaciella Enderlein, 1910 is a remarkable group of mantidflies (Neuroptera: Mantispidae: Mantispinae) distributed from Canada to Argentina, including parts of the Caribbean. This genus comprises nine valid extant species plus an extinct species from the late Oligocene of France. Species exhibit Batesian mimicry with vespid wasps (Vespidae). Herein, six species of Climaciella from French Guiana are documented. Before this study only C. semihyalina (Le Peletier de Saint Fargeau & Audinet-Serville in Latreille et al. 1825) was known from this territory. Two new species, C. elektroptera Ardila-Camacho, Winterton & Contreras-Ramos, sp. nov. and C. nigriflava Ardila-Camacho, Winterton & Contreras-Ramos, sp. nov. , are described as well as the first records of C. amapaensis Penny, 1982, and C. tincta (Navás, 1914) provided from French Guiana. An unknown species recorded from a single female specimen is also presented. Based on the examination of material of C. amapaensis recorded here, a specimen previously recorded from Colombia as belonging to this species is herein proposed as a new species, C. risaraldensis Ardila-Camacho, sp. nov. A taxonomic key and high-resolution images of the species from French Guiana are provided.
... We here review the knowledge on pupae of Mantispidae and report the first fossil pupal remains of this group. We also use quantitative as-First fossil record of a mantis lacewing pupa 187 pects of pupae and compare these to a recent quantitative study of adults (Baranov et al. 2022a). Based on this comparison we can discuss some aspects on the pupa stage and its significance for understanding the evolutionary history of Mantispidae. ...
... For a quantitative comparison between adult stages and pupae, we used the data set from Baranov et al. (2022a) and expanded it. We consider here all pupae known from groups that were traditionally considered as ingroups of Mantispidae (see below for details). ...
... The fossil record of mantis lacewings is especially rich in the Mesozoic, including numerous fossils in sedimentary rocks and in different types of ambers (see recent summary in Baranov et al. 2022a). Fossils in sedimentary rocks are restricted to adult specimens. ...
During ontogenetic development, insects can undergo quite drastic changes (metamorphosis) until the adult stage is reached. A substantial part of this development in one group of Insecta, Holometabola, takes place during the pupa stage. Despite the pupa being recognised as an important phase, rather few depictions of pupae exist in the literature. We report here the first find of a fossil pupa of the lacewing group Mantispidae. The specimen represents an exuvia and is enclosed in Ukrainian Rovno amber, Eocene in age (c. 35–40 million years). We review the entire record of extant pupae of Mantispidae depicted in the literature or in online image repositories. With the aid of elliptic Fourier analysis, we compare the outline of the femur of the foreleg (raptorial appendage in the adults) of pupae and adults of Mantispidae. The pupae are all very similar concerning the femur, while the adults show a larger morphological diversity, particularly the extinct forms. Furthermore, our results indicate that the forelegs do not become increasingly complex throughout ontogenetic stages, but instead undergo an indirect development. According to the low variation in morphology seen in the pupa stage in Mantispidae, it is plausible that it represents a phylotypic stage for the group, i.e. a phase characterised by a significantly lower variability than other stages.
Representatives of Schizomida, known as short-tailed whip scorpions, are an understudied group within Megoperculata. They are found subterraneanly in tropical and sub-tropical regions. They lack eyes, have superior mobility, and possess a flagellum which is relevant to their mating, but in general little is known about their general biology. Fossil representatives of Schizomida from a variety of time periods are available for study. Using 23 fossil specimens (14 of which are described here for the first time) and 86 extant individuals from the literature, changes in both body size and flagella shape in Schizomida were compared over time. Measurements of prosoma length and leg length were used as a proxy for body size, and a comparative size analysis was carried out. Individuals from the Cretaceous period were found to be significantly smaller than extant individuals, contrary to our expectations. For flagellum shape, images were used to create reconstructions, which were then analysed using an elliptic Fourier analysis followed by a principal component analysis. The morphological diversity of the male flagellum shape was found to have decreased significantly between the Cretaceous and modern fauna. We discuss potential explanations for our findings, although a greater understanding of the general biology of Schizomida is required to properly interpret our results.
