Huiyingosmylus bellus, Liu, Qing, Zhang, Haichun, Wang, Bo, Fang, Yan, Zheng, Daran & Zhang, Qi, 2013

Liu, Qing, Zhang, Haichun, Wang, Bo, Fang, Yan, Zheng, Daran & Zhang, Qi, 2013, A new genus of Saucrosmylinae (Insecta, Neuroptera) from the Middle Jurassic of Daohugou, Inner Mongolia, China, Zootaxa 3736 (4), pp. 387-391 : 388-389

Huiyingosmylus bellus sp. nov.

Figs. 1–2

Etymology. From the Latin ‘ bellus ’ for beautiful.

Holotype. A well-preserved and nearly complete right forewing (NIGP 156190), part and counterpart.

Description. Right forewing triangular and broad, 77 mm long and 36 mm wide as preserved. Trichosors present. Outer margin strongly undulate. Wing light brown in colour; fuscous and subrounded spots scattered on the wing surface, with some located alongside the outer magin and subcentrally decorated with unpigmented spots. Costal space moderately broad and slightly narrowed towards wing apex. Costal veinlets dense and well-forked; crossveins extremely dense between costal veinlets. Subcostal space very narrow. Sc and R1 fused near wing apex. R1 space wide and most dilated at middle part and gradually narrowing basally and apically, with at most 6 rows of cells. Rs with at least 26 branches preserved and slightly bent anteriorly toward R1. Rs1 and Rs2 merged distally at about 2/3rds of wing length from base. MA stem nearly straight with 4 branches distally. MP forked slightly basad of origin of Rs1. MP1 branched much distad of MP2. Space between MP1 and MP2 with 2 rows of cells. CuA forked at about 3/10ths of wing length from base, forming a large triangular region. CuP forked slightly basad of CuA. Both CuA and CuP dichotomously branched several times. 1A mostly straight and pectinately branched distally; 2A distinctly bent and well-developed. Space between 1A and 2A with 2–5 rows of cells. 3A short and forked distally.

Type locality and horizon. Daohugou Village, Wuhua Township, Ningcheng County, Chifeng City, Inner Mongolia, China; Daohugou Beds, Middle Jurassic.

Discussion. The new genus is assigned to Saucrosmylinae due to having a combination of the following characters: forewing large in size; crossveins dense over the entire wing; costal veinlets dense and well-forked; subcostal space narrow and lacking crossveins; R1 space wide and with at most 6 rows of cells; Rs bent anteriorly distally and CuA bounding a large triangular region.

Of the four known genera of Saucrosmylinae, Saucrosmylus , the type genus, and Bellinympha are known from nearly complete lacewings (Ren & Yin 2003; Wang et al. 2010). Rudiosmylus and Laccosmylus are both known from a single hindwing (Ren & Yin 2003). Huiyingosmylus gen. nov. can be easily distinguished from the type genus Saucrosmylus by the following forewing characters: R1 space with at most 6 rows of cells in the former, but with 3 rows in the latter; space between MP1 and MP2 with 2 rows of cells in the former, but only a single row in the latter; Rs slightly bent anteriorly toward R 1 in the former, but sharply bent in the latter. Furthermore, the outer margin is strongly undulate and there are no distinct stripy markings on the wing surface in Huiyingosmylus gen.

nov. The new genus differs from Bellinympha in having a forewing with Rs slightly bent anteriorly towards R1 rather than sharply bent and in having some fuscous and subrounded spots on the wing surface (numerous stripy markings in the latter). The accentuation of the undulate outer margin and development of weak submarginal ‘eyespots’ suggests a deflective rather than disruptive (or mimetic) pattern in Huiyingosmylus gen. nov., as in some modern butterflies (Edmunds, 1974). Owing to the extreme similarities in venation between forewings and hindwings belonging to the same species of Saucrosmylinae (Ren & Yin 2003; Wang et al. 2010), it is reasonable to compare a forewing of one taxon with a hindwing of another one of this subfamily. In this respect, Huiyingosmylus gen. nov. is different from Rudiosmylus in having at most 6 rows of cells in R1 space and more than 2 rows of cells in the space between 1A and 2A. Huiyingosmylus gen. nov. differs from Laccosmylus in having Rs slightly bent anteriorly towards R1 rather than sharply bent and in having a strongly undulate outer margin (slightly undulate in the latter).

Based on the discussion above, a key to the genera of Saucrosymylinae is given as follows:

Figures

FIGURE 1. Huiyingosmylus bellus gen. et sp. nov. Holotype, a well-preserved right forewing (NIGP 156190). A, part. B, counterpart. Scale bar = 20 mm.

FIGURE 2. Line drawing of the holotype NIGP 156190. Scale bar = 20 mm.