Phtanomiamia gui Chen & Ren & BØthoux 2020, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Chen, Lu
name: Ren, Dong
name: BØthoux, Olivier
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2020
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Phtanomiamia
Phtanomiamia gui

description: Phtanomiamia gui sp. nov.
Material
Holotype only, CNU-NX1-324, deposited at the CNU.
Etymology
The species name is dedicated to Junjie Gu, for his contributions to fieldwork at Xiaheyan and to the systematics of Orthoptera.
Diagnosis
Forewing: ScP– R /RA area broad (at its broadest, broader than the area between the anterior wing margin and ScP); first fork of M in a distal position (distal to the second fifth of wing length, basal to wing mid-length); CuA + CuPa branched shortly after the fusion of CuA and CuPa; CuA with a distinct, free portion between its divergence from M + CuA and its fusion with CuPa.
Description
Holotype specimen (CNU-NX1-324): negative imprint of an isolated, left forewing, apex missing; preserved length about 12.2 mm, estimated length about 13.8 mm, maximum width 4.2 mm; ScA present, short; ScP– R /RA area broader than area between anterior wing margin and ScP; area between the anterior wing margin and ScP/ScP + RA with strong cross-veins, mostly oblique and simple, reticulated near the wing base; ScP reaching RA slightly basal to the second third of wing length; RA/RP fork slightly basal to the first third of wing length; RA simple; RA and RP close and parallel until wing mid-length, where both veins diverge; RP simple for 4.7 mm, posteriorly pectinate (as preserved), with five branches preserved, the anterior-most one reaching RA; M weak, simple for 3.7 mm before it forks into MA and MP; MA simple (as preserved), MP with two preserved branches (it probably possessed 3); CuA 0.5 mm long before its fusion with CuPa; CuA + CuPa forked immediately after the fusion of CuA and CuPa; CuA + CuPa with a total of five branches (2, 3); CuPb simple and straight; area between CuPb and AA1 narrow; AA1 strong and simple, some cross-vein between AA1 and AA2 have cross-veins between them; AA2 with six branches; cross-veins occasionally reticulated; no colouration pattern visible.
Locality and horizon
Xiaheyan Village, Zhongwei City, Yanghugou Formation (Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China); latest Bashkirian (latest Duckmantian) to middle Moscovian (Bolsovian), early Pennsylvanian (Trümper et al., 2020).
Discussion
The new specimen can be confidently assigned to Archaeorthoptera as it exhibits the character “CuA (diverging from M + CuA) fused with the anterior branch of CuP (CuPa)”, which is the defining character state of this taxon (BØthoux, 2007). Conversely, assignment to the Panorthoptera (including crown Orthoptera and stem groups closely related to them) can be excluded, as CuPa is not branched before its fusion with CuA. Non-panorthopteran Archaeorthoptera include “lobeattid” insects, the order Cnemidolestodea Handlirsch, 1937 (which is probably derived from a subset of lobeattid insects) and a number of unplaced species. The new specimen displays an RA–RP area narrow for a long distance, a trait occurring in the former, represented at Xiaheyan by Sinopteron huangheense Prokop and Ren, 2007, Chenxiella liuae Liu, Ren and Prokop, 2009, L. loculata, M. maimai and Pr. yangi. Among lobeattids, the new specimen shares with Miamia spp. (here considered to include Aviologus duquesnei Coty, HAEva, Prokop, Roques and Nel, 2014; and see BØthoux, 2008; BØthoux et al., 2012b; BØthoux and Jarzembowski, 2010) a comparatively broad ScP– R /RA area. Another peculiar trait shared with the corresponding species (but not unique to Miamia spp.) is the very early branching of CuA + CuPa. However, the new specimen lacks the defining character state of Miamia, namely “in forewings, CuPa fuses with M + CuA” (BØthoux, 2008), a condition implying that CuA does not possess a free portion between its divergence from M + CuA and its fusion with CuPa. This free portion of CuA is present in the new specimen, which represents a plesiomorphy within Archaeorthoptera. In summary, the new specimen belongs to a species closely related to Miamia, yet it can be confidently excluded from this genus. It follows that it belongs to a new species to be accommodated in its own genus. Phtanomiamia gui is smaller than any known species of Miamia, and among the smallest “lobeattid” species.
description: Published as part of Chen, Lu, Ren, Dong & BØthoux, Olivier, 2020, A new, rare and small " lobeattid " species (Insecta: Archaeorthoptera) found at Xiaheyan (Pennsylvanian; Ningxia, China), pp. 71-74 in Fossil Record 23 (1) on page 73, DOI: 10.5194/fr-23-71-2020, http://zenodo.org/record/10965742