Tarachocelis emmarossae, Mey & Wichard, 2023

Mey, Wolfram & Wichard, Wilfried, 2023, Tarachoptera: The extinct and enigmatic cousins of Trichoptera and Lepidoptera, with descriptions of two new species, Contributions to Entomology 73 (2), pp. 137-146 : 137

Tarachocelis emmarossae sp. nov.

Figs 3-5 , 7

Material.

Holotype, male, Burmese Amber, Paratype, female, included in the same amber piece, deposited in Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig, Bonn, Germany, inventory no.: ZFMK-TRI000837 (ex coll. Patrick Müller, BUB 4499) .

Preservation.

The fossils are embedded in a flat, oval piece of amber. The holotype is incompletely preserved (Fig. 7 ). Wings, genitalia and dorsal part of thorax and abdomen are missing. Legs and palps are macerated and hardly discernible. The female paratype is completely preserved, but in an unfavorable position with wings overlapping and kept close to the body. A third specimen is present in the piece, which belongs to an unidentified male Kinitocelis species.

Etymology.

The new species is dedicated to Emma Ross, the first researcher examining the piece of amber containing the fossil that later became the first described species of Tarachoptera .

Description.

Length of body 2-3 mm (male), forewings 2.5 mm (female); head elongate and somewhat flattened dorsoventrally, with anteriorly produced frontal part; eyes prolonged, nearly stalked, with apical rounded portion black (Fig. 3 ); antennae as long as body, scape longer than eye diameter, each flagellum with 23 flagellomeres, the terminal 6 or 7 flagellomeres thickened, the basal flagellomeres slender and long (Fig. 4 ); maxillary palps very short, each with three segments of equal length, last segment pointed; labial palps long, each with three segments, terminal segment longest, not enlarged apically; galea large, clavate, with six finger-like processes directed toward perioral opening.

Male genitalia (Figs 5 , 7 ; macerated, not preserved): Ventral comb of sternum IX with 14 stiff and apically blunt spines. Legs with smaller spines on all tibiae, tarsal segments with terminal pair of ventral bristles.

Diagnosis.

The species is unique in its clubbed antennae, a character encountered in Tarachoptera for the first time here and not observed in any other basal taxa. The anteriorly produced head is similar to Tarachocelis microlepidopterella Mey et al. (2017b), and based on this similarity and in the absence of other visible traits, the new species is assigned provisionally to Tarachocelis .

Figures

Figure 7. Microphotographs of Tarachocelis emmarossae sp. nov., male holotype. a. Male habitus, ventral view; b. Head and prothorax, ventral view; c. Antennae; d. Apex of left antenna, ventral view.

Figures 1 - 5. Tarachoptera new species, 1, 2. Kinitocelis patrickmuelleri sp. nov., male holotype: 1. Head and antennae, dorsal view; 2. Tip of abdomen, left ventrolateral view. 3 - 5. Tarachocelis emmarossae sp. nov., male holotype: 3. Head, frontal view; 4. Right antenna; 5. Terminal segment with ventral comb, ventral view. Scale bar: 0.5 mm (1 - 4).