A new Blattoidea member (Dictyoptera: Blattaria) from mid-Cretaceous amber of northern Myanmar

Abstract

A new Blattoidea species, Hypercercoula jiewenae gen. et sp. nov. is described based on a male individual from mid-Cretaceous amber of northern Myanmar. This new cockroach is similar to some extant Blattidae species by the depressed pronotum surface, the large but sparse spines on femora, and the subapical spine on genital hook. Its small size, simple and symmetrical supra-anal plate and subgenital plate, especially the type B2 profemur also make it comparable with the extant family Anaplectidae. Furthermore, the slender, soft, and pod-like cerci suggest it may be related to the coetaneous species Cercoula brachyptera Li & Huang. So far, this is the third representative of Blattoidea found in Cretaceous amber.