Acrotiarini trib. nov., in the Cixiidae (Insecta, Hemiptera, Fulgoromorpha) from mid-Cretaceous amber of northern Myanmar, with new insights in the classification of the family

Abstract

Three new genera and species of Cenomanian Cixiidae from Kachin amber (Myanmar) are described: Acrotiara Bourgoin & Luo gen. nov., type species A. multigranulata Luo & Bourgoin sp. nov., Delphitiara Bourgoin & Luo gen. nov., type species D. tibiocoronata Luo & Bourgoin sp. nov., and Pentacarinus Bourgoin & Luo gen. nov., type species P. kachinensis Luo & Bourgoin sp. nov. A key to identification of these new genera is provided. These cixiids with a pentacarinated mesonotum belong to a new tribe Acrotiarini Bourgoin & Luo trib. nov., type genus Acrotiara gen. nov., which is characterized by a specific set of characters, some being unique in the family Cixiidae such as the paired sublaterofrontal carinae and the arched RA on the tegmina. This new taxon prompts discussion of the current classification and phylogeny of the family, which remains widely unexplored, and of the evaluation of the placement of two older cixiid fossils currently known, Karebodopoides aptianus (Fennah, 1987) and Cixius petrinus Fennah, 1961. A new genus, Barremixius Bourgoin & Szwedo gen. nov., is proposed for the latter, resulting in the new combination Barremixius petrinus (Fennah, 1987). Karebodopoides Szwedo, 2001 and Barremixius gen. nov. are provisionally recognized as the oldest Cixiidae, respectively representative of the oecleinian lineage (including Bothriocerini trib. stat. nov.) and of the cixiinian lineage. Acrotiarini trib. nov. belongs to the pentastirinian lineage (including Borysthenini stat. nov.). All these fossils depict that the first main division that occurred in Cixiidae, occurred much earlier during the Cretaceous