Mesoberotha superba ( Riek, 1955 )

Khramov, Alexander V., 2023, The first Triassic beaded lacewing (Neuroptera: Berothidae) from Central Asia with redescription of Mesoberotha superbа (Riek, 1955), Zootaxa 5330 (2), pp. 287-294 : 288-290

Mesoberotha superba ( Riek, 1955)

( Fig. 1 )

Proberotha superba Riek, 1955: 675–676 , fig. 18. Refs. Ponomarenko, Shcherbakov, 2004; Makarkin et al., 2011; Khramov, 2015.

Description. Forewing 7 mm long, 3.5 mm wide, trichosors visible; recurrent humeral vein absent; costal area with a hump in the proximal half, narrowed toward wing base; subcostal veinlets strongly bended forward, many of them deeply forked; at least one crossvein discernible between Sc and R1; Sc+R1 rather short, bended downward; Rs with 8 branches, 3rd and 4th of them approaching each other neat the base, being connected by short crossvein; outer gradate series of crossveins consisting of six crossveins, middle gradate series of crossveins consists of four crossveins, MA with small terminal fork; MP bifurcated slightly distal to origin of MA, but proximal to origin of Rs1; MP1 and MP2 deeply forked terminally, CuA pectinate, with four branches, 1st of them bifurcated near the base; CuP bifurcated proximal to origin of MA, anterior branch of CuP deeply bifurcated terminally; A1 and A2 with four short terminal branches each, A3 with small terminal fork.

Comments. While distal portions of Sc and R1 are only partially preserved in the holotype, these veins seem to be fused, as Riek suggested in the original description (1955). Apart from some missing crossveins, Riekʼs drawing turned out to be correct .

Type material. Almost complete forewing, holotype № C1404 (part), C2098 (counterpart), now housed at Queensland Museum , South Brisbane, Australia .

Type locality and horizon. Mount Crosby , north of Ipswich , Queensland, Australia; Mount Crosby Formation, Carnian .

Figures

FIGURE 1. Forewing of Mesoberotha superba (Riek, 1955) (Berothidae) from the Upper Triassic of Australia; holotype C1404, C2098, part and counterpart, aligned in the same direction, photographs and drawing. Photos by Jakub Prokop. Scale bar 1 mm.