Parababinskaia makarkini, Hu, Jiahui, Lu, Xiumei, Wang, Bo & Liu, Xingyue, 2018

Hu, Jiahui, Lu, Xiumei, Wang, Bo & Liu, Xingyue, 2018, Taxonomic notes on Babinskaiidae from the Cretaceous Burmese amber, with the description of a new species (Insecta, Neuroptera), ZooKeys 748, pp. 31-46 : 33-34

Parababinskaia makarkini sp. n. Figs 1, 2, 3, 4

Diagnosis.

Many CuA branches in forewing bearing small marginal fork. Hind wing with four or five cross veins between RA and RP, and with eight branches of MP2.

Description.

Male (Fig. 1A). Body length 11.20 mm; head 0.90 mm long and 1.70 mm wide; antenna length 6.34 mm; forewing 11.11 mm long and 2.90 mm wide; hind wing 9.37 mm long and 2.52 mm wide. Abdomen length 7.64 mm.

Head with vertex with a pair of domed regions (Fig. 1C). Compound eyes large, semi-globular. Antenna filiform, with dense short setae; scape much wider and longer than pedicel; flagellum with 49 flagellomeres, each flagellomere much longer but narrower than pedicel.

Prothorax slightly longer but much narrower than head, laterally with some long hairs. Meso- and metathorax robust. Wings in general narrowly elongated, transparent, and immaculate.

Forewing with single trichosors between veins along distal margin; multiple trichosors (up to seven) between veins along costal and posterior margins. Costal space about three times as wide as subcostal space, but much narrower than radial space, with 18 simple veinlets on proximal 3/4 and 16 marginally forked, more inclined veinlets on distal 1/4; only one subcostal cross vein (1scp-r) present near the wing base. Four presectorial cross veins present. Origin of RP+MA slightly proximad termination of CuP. MA diverging from RP much distad separating point of RA and RP+MA; RP with five branches, and only anterior-most one bearing a small marginal fork. Six cross veins present in radial space. MA with a small marginal fork. MP long and straight, pectinately branched about at its distal 1/5, and all branches with a small marginal fork. A short outer gradate series cross veins present. Eleven crossveins present between MP and CuA. CuA and CuP diverging near wing base. CuA pectinately branched and slightly zig-zagged distally, with eight branches, most of which bear a small marginal fork. CuP pectinately branched, with six simple branches. Eight cua-cup cross veins present. A1 distally bifurcated. Two cup-a1 cross veins present. A2 and A3 short and simple, not fused with each other.

Hind wing: Slightly narrower than forewing. Trichosors as in forewing. Costal space nearly two times as wide as subcostal space, with 14 simple veinlets on proximal 3/4 while with 14 marginally forked veinlets on distal 1/4. Subcostal crossvein absent. Three or four presectorial crossveins present. RP+MA originating nearly at same level of termination of CuA. Four crossveins present in radial space. MP1 and MP2 diverging near wing base; MP1 straight and long, pectinately branched approx. at its distal 1/5, and all branches bearing a small marginal fork; MP2 slightly zig-zagged distally, with eight pectinate branches (anterior three of them with a small marginal fork). Eight or nine intermedia cross veins present. CuA short, with five simple branches. CuP and A1 proximally fused, CuA distally strongly zig-zagged. A2 present, short and simple, slightly curved posteriad (Fig. 1B). An oblique a1-a2 crossvein present. Jugal lobe present.

Legs slender, with dense short setae; specialised setae absent (Figs 1D, 2C). Tarsus 5-segmented; tarsomere I slender, slightly longer than each of the rest tarsomeres; tarsomeres II-IV slightly wider than tarsomere I and feebly tapering on distal-lateral corners; tarsomere V ovoid. Pretarsal claws equal in length and shape, shorter than tarsomere V, without additional teeth. Arolium present, slightly shorter than pretarsal claw.

Abdomen slenderly elongate, with segments IV–VI slightly broadened.

Male genitalia (Fig. 4 A–D): Tergum IX short; sternum IX invisible, probably rather small. Ectoprocts paired, broadly ovoid, with large callus cerci. A seemingly paired, darkly coloured (probably strongly sclerotised) sclerites (putative gonocoxite IX) present beneath ectoprocts and extending well beyond tergum IX.

Female (Fig. 2A). Body length 10.68 mm; head 0.86 mm long and 1.32 mm wide; antenna length 8.55 mm; left forewing 13.05 mm long and 2.85 mm wide; left hind wing 10.37 mm long and 2.27 mm wide; right forewing (probably distorted) 10.09 mm long and 3.51 mm wide; right hind wing (probably distorted) 9.42 mm long and 2.75 mm wide; abdomen 7.14 mm long.

External morphology of female almost same as male. Antenna slightly longer, with 59 flagellomeres.

Forewing: Five presectorial cross veins present. MP with six pectinate branches, almost all bearing marginal fork. Fourteen cross veins present between MP and CuA. Six cua-cup crossveins present. Only one cup-a1 cross vein present.

Hind wing: Four presectorial cross veins present. Five cross veins present on radial space. RP with four branches. MP1 with ten pectinate branches; MP2 with nine simple branches; seven cross veins present between MP1 and MP2. CuA with six simple branches. A2 present (Fig. 2B).

Abdomen slender and elongated, with segments V–VII slightly broadened. Segment VI nearly rectangular, posteriorly without specialised projections.

Female genitalia (Fig. 2 D–E): Tergum VIII broad, nearly rectangular in dorsal view, subtriangular in lateral view. Tergum IX arcuate in dorsal view, notably smaller than tergum VIII. A pair of putative gonocoxite IX present. Ectoprocts paired, cone-like, each with a short and slender projection posteriad. Callus cerci present, large.

Type material.

Holotype: NIGP197965: Amber piece preserving a nearly complete male of Parababinskaia makarkini sp. n., it is polished in the form of arched pentagon cabochon, clear and transparent, with length × width about 24.18 × 21.44 mm, height 7.76 mm. Paratype: CAM BA-0012: amber piece preserving a complete female of P. makarkini sp. n. and a coleopteran larva, it is polished in the form of flattened rectangular cabochon, clear and transparent, with length × width about 3.66 × 23.92 mm, height 6.95 mm.

Etymology.

The new species is dedicated to Dr. Vladimir N. Makarkin for his great contributions on the taxonomy of fossil lacewings.

Remarks.

The new species is placed in Parababinskaia based on the similar number of presectorial crossveins (four or five in the forewing, and three or four in the hind wing), the presence of hind wing outer gradate series of crossveins, and the similar configuration of hind wing CuP, in comparison with the type species of Parababinskaia , i.e., P. elegans . However, the new species can be distinguished from P. elegans by the forewing CuA with most branches marginally forked (most branches of forewing CuA simple in P. elegans ), the presence of four or five hind wing radial cross veins (six or seven in P. elegans ), and the presence of eight branches of hind wing MP2 (11 or 12 in P. elegans ). The new species apparently differs from the other Burmese amber babinskaiids by the bifurcated forewing A1.

The association between the male and female of the new species is based on the similar body size, the generally same wing venation, and the similar tarsi, with tarsomeres II–IV feebly tapering on distal-lateral corners.