New Fossil Lacewings Give New Insight into the Diversity of Mantispidae (Insecta: Neuroptera) from the Mid-Cretaceous Amber

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Abstract
Four new genera with four new species and one new combination of Mantispidae are described from the Upper Cretaceous (Cenomanian) amber of northern Myanmar: Tholomantispa quinata gen. et sp. nov., Tholomantispa zhangzhiqiae comb. nov., Heteromantispa polytricha gen. et sp. nov., Trimantispa poseidoni gen. et sp. nov., and Tribelomantispa yangjiani gen. et sp. nov. These species exhibit unique morphological characteristics, such as scale-like setae on forewings, unique male genitalia structure, and specialized raptorial foreleg, which provide valuable information for the study of character transformation and adaptive evolution within Mantispidae. The scale-like setae on the forewings suggests potential secondary loss in extant taxa. Similarly, the documentation of processes on the forefemur across multiple genera introduces a novel morphological trait within Mantispidae, enriching our knowledge of their structural diversity.
Funding Information
  • National Natural Science Foundation of China (32570521)
  • National Natural Science Foundation of China (42472001)
  • National Natural Science Foundation of China (32070425)

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