Preheterobathmia gen. nov. – a new non-glossatan taxon from Myanmar amber tentatively assigned to Heterobathmiidae (Insecta, Lepidoptera)

Abstract

The description of a new fossil taxon Preheterobathmia grimaldii gen. nov. et sp. nov. is provided from Myanmar amber. The new taxon is tentatively assigned to the extant family Heterobathmiidae based on corresponding architecture of the female genitalia. It displays an interesting mixture of plesiomorphies and apomorphies, which are discussed in a comparison between Preheterobathmia gen. nov. and Heterobathmia. The fossil provides new information to the phylogeny and historical biogeography of ancestral Lepidoptera.

Keywords

• fossils
• Burmese amber
• ancestral Lepidoptera
• phy