Two new species of Itaphlebia (Insecta, Mecoptera, Nannochoristidae) from the late Middle Jurassic of China

Abstract

Two new species of Itaphlebia Sukatsheva, 1985, I. procera sp. nov. and I. elegana sp. nov., are described and illustrated from the latest Middle Jurassic Jiulongshan Formation of Daohugou, Inner Mongolia, China. Based on fossil specimens with wings, these new species are established and assigned to Itaphlebia by a combination of three forewing characters: Sc with three branches ending at C, the four-branched Rs (R2 to R5) originating distad of M (vs. three-branched RS (R2+3 undivided) in all other fossil and extant nannochoristids), and M forking with four branches; and a hind wing character of Sc simple and short, terminating at C well before the pterostigma. Furthermore, this is the first report of long and robust setae present on the anal veins of the forewing for I. elegana sp. nov. in fossil Nannochoristidae.