The first Orthoptera (Insecta) from the Triassic of China

Abstract

Xu, C.P., Fang, Y., Heads, S., Zhang, Q., Jarzembowski, E.A. & Wang, B. 2 December. 2019. The first Orthoptera (Insecta) from the Triassic of China. Alcheringa 44, 93–98. ISSN 0311-5518. The extinct family Locustavidae (Insecta: Orthoptera) is rare in the fossil record, and to date no representative has been reported from China. In this paper, Hejiafanga tongchuanensis gen. et sp. nov. is described based on a single forewing from the Middle Triassic Tongchuan Formation of Shaanxi Province, northwestern China. It is the first orthopteran to be reported from the Triassic of China and the oldest record of Caelifera from East Asia. The discovery expands the global distribution of Locustavidae (stem grasshoppers) and expands knowledge of this rare group during Middle–Late Triassic times. Chunpeng Xu* [cpxu@nigpas.ac.cn], State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology and Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, PR China; Yan Fang [yanfang@nigpas.ac.cn], State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology and Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, PR China; Sam Heads [sam.heads@gmail.com], Illinois Natural History Survey, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1816 South Oak Street, Champaign, IL 61820-6960, USA; Qiang Zhang [cq@petrochina.com.cn], PetroChina Changqing Oilfield Changbei Operating Company, Xi’an, Shaanxi, 710016, PR China; Edmund A. Jarzembowski† [jarzembowski2@live.co.uk], State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology and Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, PR China; Bo Wang‡ [bowang@nigpas.ac.cn], State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology and Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, PR China. *Also affiliated with: University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, PR China. †Also affiliated with: Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, UK. ‡Also affiliated with: Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Depositional Mineralization & Sedimentary Minerals, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, Shandong 266590, PR China