Panorpodes weitschati, Soszyńska-Maj, Agnieszka & Krzemiński, Wiesław, 2013

Soszyńska-Maj, Agnieszka & Krzemiński, Wiesław, 2013, Family Panorpodidae (Insecta, Mecoptera) from Baltic amber (upper Eocene): new species, redescription and palaeogeographic remarks of relict scorpionflies, Zootaxa 3636 (3), pp. 489-499 : 493-494

Panorpodes weitschati sp. nov.

( Figs. 9–10 )

Material examined. Holotype: male, No. 192, well preserved and complete, wings complete with clearly visible venation of left forewing and hind wing, anal parts of right forewings and hind wings invisible. Left antenna complete and clearly visible. Other parts of the body complete but details not clearly visible. Specimen in Baltic amber deposited in the Geologiсal-Palaeontological Institute and Museum, University of Hamburg, Germany (GPIM UH). Paratype female, No. 2137, deposited in the museum collection of the Institute of Systematic and Evolution of Animals, Kraków, Poland (MP ISEA).

Diagnosis. Wings transparent with four dark, narrow, broken bands, compared to dark wings with the narrow transparent bands of P. hageni and completely transparent wings of P. brevicauda from Baltic amber.

Description of male holotype. Eyes large, round, antennae filiform, scapus short and tubular, pedicel short and rounded; flagellum composed of 41 segments covered by short, dense setae; first 30 flagellomeres mostly equal in length, four times longer than wide, last 10 flagellomeres shorter and thinner; last segment slightly longer than penultimate segment and pointed ( Fig. 9 ).

Wings ( Fig. 10 ) narrow; forewing membrane transparent, with two dark, clearly visible bands and four spots ( Fig. 10 A): apical band extending from R2 to M3; pterostigmal band wide anteriorly, narrow and broken medially, not reaching posterior edge of the wing; third band in middle of wing composed of two wide spots not reaching wing edges; two small basal spots. Sc1 joining costa at level of Mb fork, Sc2 reaching the pterostigmal band; 2 crossveins c-sc; R1 characteristic sharply curved just below the end of Sc, 2 crossveins between Sc and R1; R2+3 forked at or before the point where vein R1 is sharply curved; R2 variable in one specimen, forked on pterostigmal shadow into R2a and R2b (in right wing) or simple (in left wing); R3 simple; R2+3 three times longer than length of R4+5; one crossvein between R4 and M1; A1 joining posterior margin of wing far beyond fork Rs; A2 reaching posterior edge before fork Rs, one crossvein between A1 and A2; hind wing ( Fig. 10 B) with venation similar to that of forewing, with few exceptions: Sc short, Sc1 joining the margin just before the middle of the wing; Sc2 merged with R1 and separating again before pterostigma and joining costal margin in the pterostigma; point of R2+3 fork beyond that of R1 and Sc2; R2 also variable in single specimens, forked between pterostigmal and apical shadow into R2a and R2b (in left wing) or simple (in right wing); Cu merged with A on significant length in its basal parts.

Description of female paratype. Wings ( Fig. 10 C) 14 mm long, 4.5 mm wide; forewing pattern of bands, spots and veins similar to that of male, with several exceptions: fork of R2+3 before the point where vein R1 is sharply curved; R2 two-branched with one crossvein between them; R2+3 more than twice the length of R4+5; three crossveins between R4 and M1+2, one crossvein between R4 and M1.

Etymology. The specific name is given to honor Professor Wolfgang Weitschat, retired curator of the Geologiсal-Palaeontological Institute and Museum University of Hamburg, Germany. Remarks. Wing venation of holotype and paratype show considerable variability in radial section, even in a single specimen.

Figures

FIGURE 9. Panorpodes weitschati sp. nov., holotype.

FIGURE 10. Panorpodes weitschati sp. nov.: A, forewing of holotype, male; B. hind wing of holotype; C, forewing of paratype, female.