Burmoraphidia reni Liu, Lu & Zhang, 2016, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Liu, Xingyue
name: Lu, Xiumei
name: Zhang, Weiwei
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2016
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Raphidioptera
Mesoraphidiidae
Burmoraphidia
Burmoraphidia reni

description: Burmoraphidia reni sp. nov.
(Figs. 7–11)
Diagnosis. As for the genus.
Description. Holotype EMTG BA-001272. Female. Body length 5.8 mm excluding ovipositor. Body generally dark brown, legs with alternate dark and pale patterns.
Head ovoid, 0.8 mm long, with clypeus ~1/2× compound eye length, and with portion posterior to compound eyes shorter than eye length and tapering caudad. Compound eyes large and ovoid, separated by distance slightly greater than compound eye length. Three ocelli present on posterior half of head. Antennae inserted at position slightly posteriad anterior tangent of compound eyes; antenna length ~ 2.7 mm; scape subcylindrical, robust; pedicel subcylindrical, slightly more than half length of scape, and slightly thicker than neighboring flagellomere; flagellum with ~40 flagellomeres, bearing sparse, minute setae. Maxillary palp slightly shorter than mandible, with distal three palpomeres gradually shortened.
Prothorax 0.6 mm long, meso- plus metathorax 0.9 mm long; pronotum nearly as long as head, with a constant height along its entire length. Legs slender, densely setose; pro- and mesotibiae swollen, but metatibia slenderly elongate; all tibiae distally with a spur; tarsomeres 1 and 2 also with a distal spine, tarsomere 3 bilobed; pretarsal claws simple, with a basal enlargement; arolium reduced.
Wings hyaline, veins dark, with short setae. Forewing length 5.5 mm, maximum length 1.6 mm; costal space distinctly broadened (at widest point costal space ~1.5× width of pterostigma); a weak, oblique ScA discernible; six costal crossveins present; ScP terminating into C slightly distad wing midpoint; pterostigma elongate (1.5 mm long), ~1/3× forewing length, with constant width along its entire length, and medially with a pterostigmal crossvein; pterostigma starting slightly proximad termination of Scp, proximally diffused and distally closed by anterior veinlet of RA; RA distally bifurcated, with posterior branch zig-zagged with its stem; RP simple; MA with two branches; stem of RP extremely short in comparison with stem of MA; two radial cells and one discal cell present; MP with two long, distally bifurcated branches; two discoidal cells present; CuA distally bifurcated, with anterior branch partially fused with posterior branch of MP; A2 simple (in left wing) or distally bifurcated (in right wing). Hindwing length 4.7 mm, maximum width 1.5 mm; costal space distinctly narrower than that of forewing; seven costal crossveins present; pterostigma elongate (1.5 mm long) with constant width along its entire length, and medially with a pterostigmal crossvein; pterostigma starting slightly proximad termination of ScP, proximally diffused and distally closed by anterior veinlet of RA; RA distally bifurcated, with posterior branch zig-zagged with its stem; RP simple; MA with two branches, stem of MA proximally fused with R; two radial cells and one discal cell present; MP with two long, distally bifurcated branches; one discoidal cell present; an oblique proximal mp-cua present; CuA distally bifurcated; A1 distally bifurcated and medially fused with A2 for a short distance, proximally forming an ovoid anal cell.
Abdomen length 3.0 mm excluding ovipositor. Genitalia mostly not preserved.
Paratype EMTG BA-001772. Male. Body length 5.6 mm. Head length ~ 0.7 mm; antenna length 3.0 mm; prothorax length 0.6 mm; meso- plus metathorax length 0.9 mm; forewing length 4.9 mm, maximum width 1.4 mm; hindwing length 4.4 mm, maximum width 1.1 mm; abdomen length 2.9 mm. Body abnormally darkened, causing pterostigmal crossvein not visible. General morphology and wing venation almost same to that in holotype female. Genitalia only visible in lateral view, but shape of tergum and sternum 9 hardly recognized; a nearly rectangular and a ovoid sclerites present posteroventrally; a slightly transparent structure extending from genital opening, distally recurved dorsad, with forked tip; ectoproct small, with a few thick bristles.
Paratype EMTG BA-002197. Male. Body length ~ 4.5 mm. Head length ~ 0.7 mm; antenna length ~2.0 mm. Body strongly distorted, with distal portion of wings and abdomen largely broken; pterostigma of left fore- and hindwing completely preserved, elongate, medially with a pterostigmal crossvein. Genitalia with only ventral part preserved and visible only in caudal view; segment 9 ring-like in caudal view, with tergum 9 strongly extending ventrad, probably fused with sternum 9; a partially broken sclerite (putative gonocoxite 9) present and connecting to posteroventral margin of tergum 9; a broad structure extending from ventral portion of genital opening, distally strongly narrowed, with four small lobes at tip; a flat, possibly broad, ventral sclerite present, but only visible in caudal view.
Paratype EMTG BA-002158. Male. Body length 5.6 mm. Head length ~ 0.9 mm; antenna length ~ 2.8 mm; prothorax length 0.5 mm; meso- plus metathorax length 0.8 mm; forewing length 4.9 mm, maximum width 1.1 mm; hindwing length 4.0 mm, maximum width 1.0 mm; abdomen length 2.7 mm. General morphology and wing venation almost same to that in holotype female. Genitalia only visible in ventrolateral view; tergum and sternum 9 probably fused together, without discernible trace of separation; a pair of broad sclerites (gonocoxites 9) present posteriad segment 9; a small subtriangular lobe and a flat, broad, ovoid lobe present posteriad preceding sclerites; a structure extending from genital opening, but with distal portion not visible; visible part of ectoproct small, distally bearing a few thick bristles.
Paratype EMTG BA-002255. Male. Body length 5.5 mm. Forewing length 5.5 mm, maximum width 1.5 mm; hindwing length 4.9 mm, maximum width 1.1 mm; abdomen length 2.8 mm. Body strongly distorted and wings largely broken; configuration of pterostigma and wing venation almost same to that in holotype female; genital structures not visible.
Paratype EMTG BA-002135. Female. Head not preserved. Prothorax length 0.7 mm; meso- plus metathorax length 1.0 mm; forewing length 5.1 mm, maximum width 1.4 mm; hindwing length 4.4 mm, maximum width 1.1 mm; abdomen length 2.0 mm (measured without ovipositor) and 4.7 mm (measured with ovipositor); ovipositor 2.7 mm long and 0.05 mm wide. Head not preserved. General morphology and wing venation almost same to that in holotype female. Genitalia only visible in lateral view; tergum and sternum 7 broad, posterior portion of sternum 7 damaged; tergum 8 much shorter than tergum 7; subgenitale invisible; tergum 9 dorsally rather short and distinctly widened ventrally; ectoproct slightly longer than dorsal portion of tergum 9, with posterodorsal corner slightly produced; ovipositor ~6.0× length of sternum 7, with dense annulations, distally tapering and bearing digitiform gonostyli; a slender club-shaped structure present dorsad base of ovipositor, but whether it belongs to genital sclerites questionable.
Paratype EMTG BA-002260. Female. Head not preserved. Prothorax length 0.6 mm; meso- plus metathorax length 0.9 mm; forewing length 4.7 mm, maximum width 1.4 mm; hindwing length 4.1 mm, maximum width 1.3 mm; abdomen length 2.1 mm (measured without ovipositor) and 3.8 mm (measured with ovipositor); ovipositor 1.7 mm long and 0.05 mm wide. Head not preserved. General morphology and wing venation almost same to that in holotype female. Genitalia only visible in dorsal and ventral view; sternum 7 posteriorly with a subtrapezoidal incision; a T-shaped sclerite (putative subgenitale) present posteriad sternum 7; ectoproct lost; ovipositor distally tapering and bearing digitiform gonostyli.
Paratype EMTG BA-002254. Female. Body length ~ 5.7 mm (measured without ovipositor) and ~ 8.3 mm (measured with ovipositor). Head length 0.7 mm; prothorax length 0.5 mm; meso- plus metathorax length 1.2 mm; forewing length 6.3 mm, maximum width 1.7 mm; hindwing length 5.3 mm, maximum width 1.5 mm; abdomen length 2.3 mm (measured without ovipositor) and 4.5 mm (measured with ovipositor); ovipositor 2.2 mm long and 0.1 mm wide. General morphology and wing venation almost same to that in holotype female. Genitalia only visible in lateral view, with almost identical structures to that in the specimen EMTG BA-002135.
Type materials. Holotype EMTG BA-001272: amber piece preserving a complete adult female of B. reni; it is polished in the form of a subtriangular cabochon, transparent, with length×width about 22.0×17.0 mm, height about 6.1 mm. Paratype EMTG BA-001772: amber piece preserving a complete adult male of B. reni; it is polished in the form of a nearly rectangular cabochon, transparent, with length×width about 28.6×18.0 mm, height about 6.7 mm. Paratype EMTG BA-002135: amber piece preserving a nearly complete adult female of B. reni (head mostly not preserved); it is polished in the form of a nearly rectangular cabochon, transparent, with length×width about 27.7× 18.4 mm, height about 8.3 mm. Paratype EMTG BA-002158: amber piece preserving a complete adult male of B. reni; it is polished in the form of a nearly rectangular cabochon, obscure, with length×width about 20.7× 10.4 mm, height about 5.1 mm. Paratype EMTG BA-002197: amber piece preserving a complete adult male of B. reni and a caddisfly; it is polished in the form of a nearly rectangular cabochon, transparent, with length×width about 36.0× 10.6 mm, height about 10.6 mm. Paratype EMTG BA-002260: amber piece preserving an almost complete adult female of B. reni, a beetle, and a caddisfly; it is polished in the form of a nearly rectangular cabochon, transparent, with length×width about 27.0× 8.5 mm, height about 7.6 mm. Paratype EMTG BA-002254: amber piece preserving a complete adult female of B. reni, a plant louse, a beetle, and two hymenopterans; it is polished in the form of a nearly rectangular cabochon, transparent, with length×width about 30.7× 10.6 mm, height about 8.3 mm. Paratype EMTG BA-002255: amber piece preserving a complete adult male of B. reni and a midge; it is polished in the form of an ovoid cabochon, transparent, with length×width about 14.2×14.0 mm, height about 7.7 mm.
Etymology. The new species is dedicated to Dr. Dong Ren for his tremendous contributions on the taxonomy of fossil insects from China.
Remarks. The new species seems to be a common snakefly species in the mid Cretaceous of Myanmar as a half of snakefly specimens herein studied belong to this species. The pterostigmal crossvein varies from distinct to very indistinct among fore- and hindwings as well as among specimens. However, the diffuse base of pterostigma and other morphological features provide sufficient evidence to place these specimens in a same species.
description: Published as part of Liu, Xingyue, Lu, Xiumei & Zhang, Weiwei, 2016, New genera and species of the minute snakeflies (Raphidioptera: Mesoraphidiidae: Nanoraphidiini) from the mid Cretaceous of Myanmar, pp. 301-324 in Zootaxa 4103 (4) on pages 312-316, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4103.4.1, http://zenodo.org/record/264759