Westphaloptilus gallicus, Guan & Prokop & Roques & Lapeyrie & Nel, 2016

Guan, Zhaoying, Prokop, Jakub, Roques, Patrick, Lapeyrie, Jean & Nel, André, 2016, Revision of the enigmatic insect family Anthracoptilidae enlightens the evolution of Palaeozoic stem-dictyopterans, Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 61 (1), pp. 71-87 : 80-81

Westphaloptilus gallicus sp. nov.

Figs. 6 , 7 .

Etymology: Named after Gallia, Latin name for France.

Holotype: Bruay F. 5 BR27–28 imprint and counterimprint of a basal third of a forewing. Collected by Patrick Roques provisionally stored in the collection of Entomological Laboratory, MNHN, Paris, France. This collection will be deposited in the Musée Géologique Pierre Vetter, Decazeville, France.

Type locality: Bruay-en-Artois, coal heap n°26, Department of North, France.

Type horizon: Westphalian C or D, Carboniferous (= Bashkirian, Lower Pennsylvanian).

Material.— Type material only.

Diagnosis.—As for the genus.

Description.—Length of fragment 9.2 mm long, wing 5.0 mm wide; bulging basal part of costal margin delimited by simple convex vein (ScA?), several oblique crossveins between this vein and costal margin; simple, straight, concave ScP closely parallel to Radius, 0.1 mm apart, with few crossveins between them; area between ScP and costal margin with numerous crossveins and veinlets; radial stem straight, with RP separating from RA 5.4 mm from wing base; strongly convex RA, straight; RP slightly concave; RP and median vein separated near their base; median vein more rather concave separated from R 3.1 mm from wing base; M strongly approximating CuA with a brace between them, convex but less than CuA; convex CuA anteriorly pectinate with three main convex branches; convex CuA separating from concave CuP 2.3 mm from wing base; CuP simple, straight with a rather wide area between it and CuA, 0.6 mm wide; weak sigmoidal crossveins between CuP and CuA; area between CuP and posterior wing margin 1.9 mm wide; seven visible anal veins, convex and weakly curved; a dense net of sigmoidal crossveins between branches of all main veins.

Remarks.— Westphaloptilus gen. nov. has the main diagnostic characters of the Anthracoptilidae : area between C and ScP with a series of veinlets and crossveins; RP emerging from R in basal half of wing; median vein braced to CuA by a short convex mp-cua; CuA and CuP emerging from a long common stem Cu; main stem of CuA strongly convex, but anteriorly pectinate with at least a series of parallel convex branches (synapomorphy); CuP concave simple; anal veins more convex than CuP.

Westphaloptilus has only three anterior branches of CuA while Anthracoptilus , Mesoptilus , Pseudomesoptilus , Strephocladus , Graticladus , Homocladus , Spargoptilon , Carrizocladus , Adiphlebia , and also certainly Strephoptilus have five such veins or more. Jarmilacladus and Opisthocladus have also more branches of CuA, but posteriorly pectinate. Even the poorly known Rhinomaloptila has more branches of CuA (see below for precisions on these taxa).

Stratigraphic and geographic range.—Bashkirian (Lower Pennsylvanian) Westphalian C or D, Carboniferous (= Bashkirian, Lower Pennsylvanian), France.

Figures

Fig. 6. Forewing of anthracoptilid insect Westphaloptilus gallicus sp. nov. from Westphalian of Bruay-en-Artois, Department of North, France, holotype Bruay F.5 BR27–28. Westphaloptilus gallicus sp. nov.

Fig. 7. Anthracoptilid insect Westphaloptilus gallicus sp. nov. from Bashkirian of Bruay-en-Artois, Department of North, France, holotype Bruay F.5 BR27–28, photograph of imprint (A), photograph of counterimprint (B). 1A, first anal vein; CuA/P, cubitus anterior/posterior; M, indistinguishable polarity of median vein; RA/P, radius anterior/posterior; ScA/P, subcosta anterior/posterior.