A new species of Mesoraphidiidae (Raphidioptera) from mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber, with discussion on anal veins in Raphidiomorpha

Abstract

Dolichoraphidia groehni sp. nov. (Raphidioptera: Mesoraphidiidae: Nanoraphidiini) is described from mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber of northern Myanmar based on a well-preserved male specimen. The new species is most similar to D. aspoecki Liu et al., 2016, but differs from it by the distal location of crossvein 3ra-rp (distad pterostigma) and the short presumed gonocoxites 9 (or gonocoxites 9 + gonostyli 9). A comparative analysis of the anal veins in the fore- and hindwings of Raphidiomorpha is provided. The analysis shows that the apomorphic states of the anal veins, characteristic of extant taxa (Raphidiidae and Inocelliidae), may be derived from conditions occurring in both Cretaceous families of Raphidioptera, Mesoraphidiidae and Baissopteridae.