Choristopsyche perfecta, Qiao, Xiao, Shih, Chung Kun, Petrulevicius, Julian F. & Dong, Ren, 2013

Qiao, Xiao, Shih, Chung Kun, Petrulevicius, Julian F. & Dong, Ren, 2013, Fossils from the Middle Jurassic of China shed light on morphology of Choristopsychidae (Insecta, Mecoptera), ZooKeys 318, pp. 91-111 : 95-97

Choristopsyche perfecta sp. n. Fig. 3

Diagnosis.

Forewing, RP+MA forking almost at the same level to MP forking.

Description.

HolotypeCNU-MEC-NN2011082 (Figs 3A, B), an almost complete preserved specimen, maybe male, with four outspread wings, but with partially preserved body. Head is partially preserved, only with one compound eye visible. Thorax: prothorax smaller than mesothorax and metathorax in ventral view. Legs: some parts of fore legs and left hind leg visible. Abdomen: tapering apically, with six segments visible, but the terminal visible, maybe male. Wings: Right forewing, length 22.2 mm, width at about 11.4 mm, RP forking distal to the forking of MA; MP2+3 forking distal to the forking of MA; the stem of MP3 about twice as long as the stem of MP2+3; with one crossvein between CuP and 1A; CuP, 1A single. Left forewing is partially preserved, similar to right forewing. Hind wings, length 18.4 mm, width at about 10.3 mm, similar to forewings but smaller than forewings, and left hind wing partially preserved. There are many spots on all four wings, symmetric between left and right wings.

Paratypes: CNU-MEC-NN2009352 (Figs 3C, E), an almost complete preserved specimen, with clear wing venation and structure of body in side pressure, and forewings partially overlapped with hind wings, sex unknown. Wings: Left forewing, length 18.8 mm, width 10.0 mm, RP forking slightly distal to the forking of MA; MP2+3 forking at about the same level to the forking of MA; the stem of MP3 about twice as long as the stem of MP2+3; with one crossvein between MP1 and MA4, MP1 and MP2, MP2+3 and MP4; CuP, 1A, 2A, 3A single, and one crossvein between CuP and 1A. Right forewing is similar to left forewing. Hind wing, similar to forewing, but smaller. CNU-MEC-NN2011079 (Fig. 3D), female, a well-preserved specimen with complete body, and the terminal of abdomen visible, but the end of legs absent, and forewings overlapping hind wings, but parts of wings missing, RP forking distal to the forking of MA; Abdomen: tapering apically, with eleven visible segments, the tenth and eleventh segments smaller, and the eleventh segment with cerci visible. CNU-MEC-NN2011084 (Fig. 3F), a specimen with legs absent, and hind wings overlapped by forewings in dorsal view, sex unknown. Forewing, length 19.4 mm, width 10.0 mm, RP forking at the same level to the forking of MA; MP2+3 forking basal to the forking of MA; the stem of MP3 about twice as long as the stem of MP2+3.

Material.

Holotype CNU-MEC-NN2011082, Paratypes CNU-MEC-NN2009352, CNU-MEC-NN2011079, CNU-MEC-NN2011084, deposited in CNUB.

Type locality and horizon.

Daohugou Village, Ningcheng County, Inner Mongolia, China, Jiulongshan Formation, Middle Jurassic (Bathonian-Callovian boundary interval, ca 164-165 Ma).

Etymology.

The name is derived from the Latin word of perfectus, meaning “complete”.

Remarks.

These four specimens exhibit differences in the character of "RP forking vs. MA forking", "MP2+3 forking vs. MA forking", which is considered as intraspecific variations.