A mid-Cretaceous female scale insect (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha: Coccomorpha) in Burmese amber

Zootaxa ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4810 (3) ◽  
pp. 511-522
Author(s):  
GEORGE POINAR ◽  
FERNANDO E. VEGA ◽  
SCOTT A. SCHNEIDER
Keyword(s):  
Special Interest ◽  
New Genus ◽  
Scale Insect ◽  
Morphological Features ◽  
The Body ◽  
Present Species ◽  
Immature Stages ◽  
Female Specimen ◽  
New Genus And Species ◽  
Burmese Amber

A new genus and species of scale insect (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha) is described from a female specimen in mid-Cretaceous Burmese (Myanmar) amber. Fossil female scales are rare and the present species, described as Paleolepidotus macrocolus gen. et sp. n., has such an unusual assortment of morphological features that it could not be assigned to any particular extant or extinct family. The small, ferruginous specimen exhibits a series of long wax pencils that extend around the body, including the head. The antennae and legs are quite long compared to other extant and extinct scale fossils. Of special interest are the protruding eyes, and a conical-triangular rostrum arising from between the forelegs; the claws with bifid apices are also unique. The ovisac contains immature stages. 

A new scale insect of the extinct family Weitschatidae (Insecta: Hemiptera: Coccomorpha) from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber

Zootaxa ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 4407 (3) ◽  
pp. 427
Author(s):  
SHAN LIN ◽  
YUNZHI YAO ◽  
DONG REN
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
New Genus ◽  
Scale Insect ◽  
Identification Key ◽  
New Genus And Species ◽  
Key To Species ◽  
Burmese Amber ◽  
Fossil Specimen ◽  
The Family

A new genus and species of the extinct family Weitschatidae, Criniverticillus longicumulus gen. et sp. nov. (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha), is described and illustrated from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber. The new species is based on a fossil specimen with complete body, wings and antennae. The family diagnosis is updated to include similarities between Criniverticillus, Pseudoweitschatus and Weitschatus. An identification key to species of Weitschatidae is provided. 

scholarly journals A unique camouflaged mimarachnid planthopper from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tian Jiang ◽  
Jacek Szwedo ◽  
Bo Wang
Keyword(s):  
New Genus ◽  
The Body ◽  
Tree Bark ◽  
New Genus And Species ◽  
Burmese Amber ◽  
Behavioral Traits ◽  
Morphological Adaptations ◽  
Ancient Forest ◽  
Functional Forms ◽  
And Function

Abstract Predation is a major driving force for the evolution of functional forms. Avoidance of visual predators has resulted in different kinds of anti-predator defences, such as: camouflage, crypsis, disruptive coloration, and masquerade or mimesis. Camouflage is one of the forms involving shape, colouration, structure and behaviour when the visual pattern and orientation of an animal can determine whether it lives or dies. Inferring the behaviour and function of an ancient organism from its fossilised remains is a difficult task, but in many cases it closely resembles that of its descendants on uniformitarian grounds. Here we report and discuss examples of morphological and behavioural traits involving camouflage named recently as a flatoidinisation syndrome, shown by the inclusion of a planthopper in mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber. We found a new genus and species of an extinct Cretaceous planthopper family Mimarachnidae showing peculiar complex morphological adaptations to camouflage it on tree bark. Due to convergence, it resembles an unrelated tropiduchid planthopper from Eocene Baltic amber and also a modern representatives of the planthopper family Flatidae. Flattening of the body, the horizontal position of the tegmina at repose, tegmina with an undulating margin and elevated, wavy longitudinal veins, together with colouration and more sedentary behavioral traits enable these different insects to avoid predators. Our discovery reveals flatoidinisation syndrome in mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber which may provide insights into the processes of natural selection and evolution in this ancient forest.

A new genus and species of monostiliferous hoplonemertean (Enopla: Hoplonemertea: Monostilifera) from New Zealand

Zootaxa ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
RAY GIBSON ◽  
MALIN STRAND
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Body Wall ◽  
New Genus ◽  
Morphological Features ◽  
The Body ◽  
Full Length ◽  
New Taxon ◽  
New Genus And Species ◽  
The Brain

Vulcanonemertes rangitotoensis gen. et sp. nov. (Hoplonemertea: Monostilifera) is described and illustrated. Major morphological features of the new taxon include an anteriorly divided body wall longitudinal musculature, no pre-cerebral septum, cephalic glands which reach far back behind the brain, and accessory lateral nerves which extend the full length of the body.

A new genus and species of Sclerodactylidae (Echinodermata: Holothuroidea: Sclerothyoninae) from the Pacific coast of Panama, and assignment of Neopentamera anexigua to Sclerothyoninae

Zootaxa ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 4429 (1) ◽  
pp. 157
Author(s):  
LUCIANA MARTINS ◽  
MARCOS TAVARES
Keyword(s):  
Body Wall ◽  
New Genus ◽  
Pacific Coast ◽  
The Body ◽  
The Other ◽  
Monotypic Genus ◽  
New Genus And Species ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Calcareous Ring

Paulayellus gustavi, a new sclerodactylid genus and species, is described from the Pacific coast of Panama. The new genus and species is assigned to the subfamily Sclerothyoninae based on a suite of characters, which include the radial and interradial plates of the calcareous ring united at the base only. Paulayellus gen. nov. differs from the other Sclerothyoninae genera in having posterior processesof radial plates undivided. Additionally, differs from Sclerothyone, Thandarum and Neopentamera in having knobbed buttons, plates and cups in the body wall (whereas the body wall is furnished only with tables and plates in Sclerothyone, Temparena and Thandarum, and only with knobbed buttons and plates in Neopentamera). The new genus is, so far, monotypic. The also monotypic genus Neopentamera proved to have the radial and the interradial plates of the calcareous ring united at the base only, as typically found in the Sclerothyoninae, and is therefore transferred to that subfamily. The discovery of a new genus in the Sclerothyoninae and the transfer of Neopentamera required the amendation of the diagnosis for the subfamily. A key to the Sclerothyoninae is given. 

scholarly journals A new paradoxosomatid millipede, Manikidesmus suriensis (Polydesmida: Paradoxosomatidae) from West Bengal, India.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Somnath Bhakat
Keyword(s):  
New Genus ◽  
West Bengal ◽  
Present Species ◽  
New Genus And Species ◽  
The Family

A new genus and species of the family Paradoxosomatidae from southern part of West Bengal, India is described. The new genus Manikidesmus gen. n. is diagnosed by combination of following characters: reduced paranota, distinct pleural keel, unpaired sternal lamella on 5th sternite, prefemur with setal brush, setal brush on tibia and tarsus in male, lamina medialis long straight with a curved hook, expanded post femoral lamina with a spine and tibiotarsus with a spine on the distofemoral process. The genus is distinguished from its Indian congeners by one or more diagnosed characters. In Manikidesmus suriensis, sp. n. tibia and tarsus bear setal brush in male (vs. absent in Oxidus and Chondromorpha), gonopod femur short, flat and without post femoral demarcation (vs. long, thin cylindrical with post femoral demarcation in Polydrepanum and Orthomorpha), tibiotarsus of gonopod long and a spine on the distofemoral process (vs. short and without spine in Anoplodesmus). In Kronopolites, coxa of gonopod densely bristled, collum with two rows of long bristles, femur long, slender and with a spine. All these characters are absent in the present genus. In Streptogonopus, gonopod femorite is distinctly demarcated from post femorite region and solenomere is twisted with solenophore but in the present species, femorite is not be separated from post femorite region and solenomere is free from solenophore.

New genus and species of silky lacewing (Insecta: Neuroptera: Psychopsidae) from the mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber

Zootaxa ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 4291 (2) ◽  
pp. 373 ◽  
Author(s):  
XIUMEI LU ◽  
WEIWEI ZHANG ◽  
MICHAEL OHL ◽  
XINGYUE LIU
Keyword(s):  
New Genus ◽  
Hind Wing ◽  
New Genus And Species ◽  
Male Specimen ◽  
Burmese Amber ◽  
Diagnostic Characters ◽  
The Relationship

A new genus and species of the lacewing family Psychopsidae, Electropsychops handlirschi gen. et sp. nov., is described based on a well preserved male specimen from the mid-Cretaceous amber of Myanmar. The new genus possesses a number of diagnostic characters of Psychopsidae, i.e., the lack of a forewing median nygma, the presence of a vena triplica, and the straight and barely forked RA. However, it also exhibits some remarkable characters that are present in Osmylopsychopidae, such as the distally narrowed forewing costal space and the sigmoid MA stem in the hind wing. The relationship between Psychopsidae and Osmylopsychopidae is briefly discussed. 

A New Genus and Species of Delphacidae (Hemiptera: Fulgoroidea: Delphacidae) from Costa Rica

Zootaxa ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4657 (2) ◽  
pp. 361-368
Author(s):  
CHARLES R. BARTLETT
Keyword(s):  
Costa Rica ◽  
New Genus ◽  
The Body ◽  
New Taxon ◽  
Ventral Margin ◽  
New Genus And Species ◽  
Distinctive Features ◽  
Caudal Margin ◽  
General Appearance

Melaniphax suffusculus gen. et sp. nov. is described from Costa Rica, representing the 57th delphacid species recorded from the country to date. The new genus is superficially similar to Caenodelphax Fennah in general appearance in that the body is uniformly colored with the wings infuscated. Distinctive features of the new taxon include simple, forceps-like gonostyli, a broadly compressed aedeagus with large serrate lateral flanges, and the anal tube bearing a pair of short, stout, truncate, caudally-directed processes on the ventro-caudal margin and slender, elongate processes from the antero-ventral margin. 

scholarly journals Burmese amber reveals a new stem lineage of whirligig beetle (Coleoptera: Gyrinidae) based on the larval stage

2020 ◽  
Vol 189 (4) ◽  
pp. 1232-1248
Author(s):  
Grey T Gustafson ◽  
Mariano C Michat ◽  
Michael Balke
Keyword(s):  
Larval Stage ◽  
New Genus ◽  
Morphological Characters ◽  
New Taxon ◽  
New Genus And Species ◽  
Burmese Amber ◽  
Extinction Event ◽  
Stem Lineage ◽  
Key Features ◽  
Mass Extinction Event

Abstract Burmese amber is well known for preserving unique extinct lineages of insects. Here, we describe a new fossil beetle in its larval stage from Burmese amber. Bayesian and parsimony phylogenetic analysis of 50 morphological characters support this fossil as being sister to both the tribes Dineutini and Orectochilini, representing an extinct stem lineage in Gyrininae. It is described here as a new genus and species of whirligig beetle, Chimerogyrus gigagalea gen. & sp. nov., a taxon that preserves remarkable intermediate features between the whirligig beetle tribe Gyrinini and the crown Orectochilini and Dineutini. This new taxon preserves key features for studying the evolution of characters within the larval stage of the Gyrinidae and highlights the importance of Burmese amber for preserving both stem and crown lineages present during the mid-Cretaceous, before the end-Cretaceous mass extinction event.

Spirodesma magdae nov. gen. nov. sp. (Nematoda: Desmodoridae) from the Brazilian deep sea (Campos Basin, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)

Zootaxa ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 2096 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARIANA DA FONSECA CAVALCANTI ◽  
MARIA CRISTINA DA SILVA ◽  
VERÔNICA DA FONSÊCA-GENEVOIS
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Deep Sea ◽  
Rio De Janeiro ◽  
New Genus ◽  
Buccal Cavity ◽  
Morphological Features ◽  
New Genus And Species ◽  
Unique Form ◽  
Campos Basin ◽  
Deep Sea Sediments

A new genus and species of Desmodoridae was found in deep-sea sediments of the Campos Basin. Although the cuticle annulation of the new species is similar to members of Desmodorinae, many morphological features are strong enough to classify it within the Spiriniinae. Spirodesma magdae nov. gen. nov. sp. is characterized mainly by the presence of a unique form of unispired amphids, with circular amphideal fovea, and a buccal cavity with three equal teeth, one dorsal and two ventrosublateral.

The subterranean Aenigmachanna gollum, a new genus and species of snakehead (Teleostei: Channidae) from Kerala, South India

Zootaxa ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4603 (2) ◽  
pp. 377 ◽  
Author(s):  
RALF BRITZ ◽  
V.K. ANOOP ◽  
NEELESH DAHANUKAR ◽  
RAJEEV RAGHAVAN
Keyword(s):  
New Genus ◽  
South India ◽  
Dna Barcode ◽  
The Body ◽  
Colour Pattern ◽  
Slight Reduction ◽  
New Genus And Species ◽  
Body Depth ◽  
The Family ◽  
Maximum Body

Aenigmachanna gollum, new genus and species, is described from Kerala, South India. It is the first subterranean species of the family Channidae. It has numerous derived and unique characters, separating it from both the Asian Channa Scopoli and the African Parachanna Teugels & Daget. Uniquely among channids, A. gollum has a very slender (maximum body depth only 11.1–11.3% SL), eel-like body (head length 20.8–21.6% SL), large mouth (jaw length 60.4–61.1 % HL), 43–44 anal-fin rays, 83–85 scales in a lateral series, an unusual colour pattern and it lacks pored lateral-line scales on the body and body buoyancy. In addition, it is distinguished by its DNA barcode sequence, which is 15.8–24.2% divergent from other species of the family Channidae. Morphological modifications usually associated with a subterranean life, such as reduction of eyes and enhancement of non-visual senses (taste, smell, mechanosensory systems) are absent in A. gollum. However, it shares with subterranean fishes a slight reduction of its pigmentation in comparison to epigean channids.

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