Abstract
A new species of Elcanidae (Orthoptera, Elcanoidea), Parelcana pulchmaculasp. nov., is described based on four new specimens from the Middle Jurassic Jiulongshan Formation of northeastern China. The new species differs from all other known Archelcaninae species by its combination of wing-venation characters. This new finding improves our knowledge of variation on wing venation in elcanid insects and constitutes the first record of Elcanidae from the Daohugou fossil bed (Yanliao Biota) of northeastern China.
Highlights
The extinct family Elcanidae is a cryptic group of Orthoptera insects due to their complex anatomical features
CP with 8 oblique branches; ScA with 1 branch connected with CP; ScP with 6 branches ending in anterior margin; RA with 18 oblique branches; RP with 10 pectinate branches reaching wing margin; RP fused with anterior branch of MA1 after the ramification point of MA1; CuPaβ reaches the posterior wing margin basally to the end of ScP. This new species can be assigned to Archelcaninae by its relatively wide area between RA and RP, and free distal part of CuPaβ, CuPb and AA1
The new species is notably different from P. anglicana in its greater number of branches of ScP, free and vertical CuA, wider area between CuA+CuPaα and anal region, and fusion pattern of CuA and CuPaα
Summary
The extinct family Elcanidae is a cryptic group of Orthoptera insects due to their complex anatomical features. Elcanidae shares a long, filiform antennae and exerted ovipositors with the suborder Ensifera The presence of these contrasting anatomical features makes the systematic position of Elcanidae unclear. In China, two specimens have been reported, one from the Guangxi Province (from Early Jurassic), and one from the Hebei Province (from Middle Jurassic) Both were attributed to Elcana reticulata (Handlirsch, 1939), based on existing highly fragmented forewing sample specimens (Handlirsch 1939; Hong 1983; Lin 1986). Isotopic radiometric dating of rock samples from the Daohugou area enabled assessment of the age of the Jiulongshan Formation at circa 168–164 million years (Chen et al 2004; He et al 2004; Liu et al 2006; Yang and Li 2008; Chang et al 2014). This indicates that the age of the Jiulongshan Formation falls within the Bathonian–Callovian boundary interval (Xu et al 2016)
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