TARSOPHLEBIIDAE Handlirsch, 1906

Fleck, Günther, Bechly, Günter, Martínez-Delclòs, Xavier, Jarzembowski, Edmund A. & Nel, André, 2004, A revision of the Upper Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous dragonfly family Tarsophlebiidae, with a discussion on the phylogenetic positions of the Tarsophlebiidae and Sieblosiidae (Insecta, Odonatoptera, Panodonata), Geodiversitas 26 (1), pp. 33-60 : 35-36

Family TARSOPHLEBIIDAE Handlirsch, 1906

Tarsophlebiidae Handlirsch, 1906: 467 , 468, 580, 581.

TYPE GENUS. — Tarsophlebia Hagen, 1866 , original designation of Handlirsch (1906) by monotypy.

INCLUDED GENERA. — Tarsophlebia Hagen, 1866 (= Tarsophlebiopsis Tillyard, 1923 ) and Turanophlebia Pritykina, 1968 . Since Bechly (1996, 1997) demonstrated that the genera Euthemis Pritykina, 1968 (Upper Jurassic) and Sphenophlebia Bode, 1953 (Upper Liassic) are isophlebioid “anisozygoptères” and thus not related to Tarsophlebiidae , there is no more evidence for a Lower Jurassic occurrence of Tarsophlebiidae and also no need for a further redundant taxon Tarsophlebioidea or Tarsophlebioptera.

STRATIGRAPHIC AND GEOGRAPHIC RANGE. — Only known from the Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous of Eurasia.

EMENDED DIAGNOSIS. — Nel et al. (1993) proposed a diagnosis of the Tarsophlebiidae . We here emend this diagnosis with the following characters: 1) primary antenodal braces Ax1 and Ax2 stronger than the secondary antenodal cross-veins; 2) in all fore and hind wings, there are pairs of secondary longitudinal concave veins “above” and “below” the convex veins CuA, MA, and IR2, and closely parallel to them. We propose to name them respectively antero-CuA, postero- CuA, antero-MA, postero-MA, antero-IR2 and postero-IR 2 intercalary veins. These veins are more or less long and defined in the different taxa. The posterointercalaries are always longer than the associated antero-intercalaries; and 3) in male, one pair of well separated anal appendages visible, of very particular shape, basally strongly sclerotized, with high humps and a non-sclerotized paddle-like distal part. No median anal appendage visible. These body characters are only known for Tarsophlebia eximia and Turanophlebia vitimensis n. sp.

The monophyly of Tarsophlebiidae is supported by several strong autapomorphies (Nel et al. 1993), such as: hypertrophied hind wing subdiscoidal cell, developed as “pseudo discoidal cell”; in hind wing, fusion of veins [MAb + MP + CuA] for a considerable distance before separation of MP and CuA; vein AA strongly bent at insertion of CuP-crossing; extremely acute distal angles of fore wing discoidal and subdiscoidal cell. The characters “distinctly prolonged legs, with very long tarsi” and “male cerci with strange distal expansions” are present in both T. eximia and T. vitimensis n. sp., and probably also in other Tarsophlebiidae . The “extremely prolonged female ovipositor” could be an autapomorphy of the family, too, but it is only known from T. eximia . A further alleged autapomorphy mentioned by Nel et al. (1993) rather seems to be a symplesiomorphy ( Bechly 1996), viz. “veins [RP + MA] - MAb - CuA aligned”. It is also present in the Epiophlebiidae Muttkowski, 1910 , Isophlebioptera and Heterophlebioptera.