The oldest genus and species of the fulgoroidian lineage in hemipteran Fulgoroidea from the Lower Cretaceous Laiyang Formation of China

Abstract

Laiyangella zhangi gen. et sp. nov., the first planthopper from the Lower Cretaceous Laiyang formation, Shandong Province of China, is described. Although exhibiting a cixioid venation that would seem to indicate its placement with or near the Cixiidae, the well-preserved impression of the genitalia of this female specimen is not of the orthopteroid type, but fulgoroid. Laiyangella gen. nov. is thus placed in a sister position to the base of the fulgoroidian lineage in Fulgoroidea; it represents the oldest fossil of this lineage. Laiyangella gen. nov. appears as a key taxon to better understand the early evolution of Fulgoroidea. It warns us the weakness of the taxonomic diagnoses currently used in the identification of major groups that have to be reassessed.