Parasinalda, Heiss & Golub, 2013

Heiss, E. & Golub, V., 2013, Reconsideration of Baltic Amber " Sinalda " with description of a new genus and species (Hemiptera, Heteroptera, Tingidae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 45 (2), pp. 1865-1871 : 1866

Parasinalda nov.gen.

S y s t e m a t i c p o s i t i o n:

Order: Hemiptera

Suborder: Heteroptera

Infraorder: Cimicomorpha LESTON, PENDERGRAST & SOUTHWOOD 1954

Superfamily: Tingoidea LAPORTE 1833

Family: Tingidae LAPORTE 1833

Subfamily: Cantacaderinae STÅL 1873

Tribe: Phatnomatini DRAKE & DAVIS 1960

D i a g n o s i s:Bodyofovaloutline.Headporrectinfrontofeyes,dorsallybearing8 tubercles: an unpaired clypeal and dorsomedial one and paired jugal, frontal and occipital tubercles. Pronotum with deeply sinuate lateral margins and bilobate paranota; its anterior disk shorter and elevated with concave anterior margin; posterior disc longer, slightly convex with three longitudinal carinae, the lateral ones shorter than the median one; surface areolate; posterior margin feebly convex without posterior projection. Hemelytra divided into costal, subcostal, discoidal and sutural areas by longitudinal elevated veins, the discoidal area divided by two elevated transverse veins into three large parts, surface covered with areolae which are larger on costal area; clavus triangular, distinct and exposed, anteriorly uncovered by pronotum, separated from corium by comissura.

T y p e s p e c i e s Phatnoma baltica DRAKE 1950 .

Included species:

Parasinalda baltica (DRAKE 1954) nov.comb.

P. froeschneri (GOLUB & POPOV 1989) nov.comb.

Parasinalda groehni nov.sp.

C o m p a r i s o n a n d d i s c u s s i o n: The new genus shares few characters (e.g. structure of head and hemelytra) with the African genus Sinalda DISTANT 1904 which led FROESCHNER 1996 to transfer the first described species from Baltic Amber Phatnoma baltica DRAKE 1950 to Sinalda . It differs however at first glance by the bilobate not straight or concave lateral margins of paranota and by much wider costal areas of hemelytra, which are 4-5 seriate in Parasinalda and uni-or biseriate in African taxa.

In addition to morphological differences between Sinalda and Parasinalda it is very unlikely, without evidence and mismatching palaeogeographical data, that Baltic Amber taxa which inhabited Northern Europe at Eocene time are related to extant Afrotropical genera. There is rich palaeontological evidence that Cenozoic faunas were independently formed in these two geographical zones under very different climatic conditions widely separated from each other.

The taxonomic position of Sinalda applanata GOLUB & POPOV 2005 (Fig. 7), also described from the Baltic Amber remains unresolved. Its assignment to this genus was based on its resemblance to the type species Sinalda elegans ( DRAKE 1950) showing the concave paranotal margins (illustrated in FROESCHNER 1986, Fig. 35). However details of head and hemelytra structures of S. applanata holotype could not be studied in detail as these parts were obscured by impurities in the Amber inclusion. Therefore the question of the systematic position of S. applanata remains open unless further material is available for study, considering the present status of this species as incertae sedis in Phatnomatini ( Tingidae , Cantacaderinae ).