A brachypterous cockroach (Dictyoptera: Blattaria: Blattoidea) and its potential relevance to the palaeoenvironment of mid-Cretaceous Myanmar amber locality

Abstract

A second blattoid species, Cercoula brachyptera gen. et sp. nov. is described from Cretaceous amber. It is placed in Blattoidea because of the combination of bivalvate female subgenital plate and type-A forefemoral spination. Its relatively small size, and small, slender, pod-like cerci, suggest that the new species is a stem member of Blattoidea. Cercoula brachyptera is the first fossil of brachypterous cockroach. Since wing reduction might be a response of cockroaches to the arid environment, C. brachyptera might indicate an arid microenvironment or a dry season, or even contribute to the possibility of an arid palaeoclimate of the Myanmar amber locality.