Megaraphidia Cockerell, 1907

Archibald, S. Bruce & Makarkin, Vladimir N., 2021, Early Eocene snakeflies (Raphidioptera) of western North America from the Okanagan Highlands and Green River Formation, Zootaxa 4951 (1), pp. 41-79 : 43

Genus Megaraphidia Cockerell, 1907

Emended diagnosis. Relatively large raphidiids (forewing up to 14 mm long), distinguished from other genera of the family by the following unique combination of character states: fore- and hind wings: (1) relatively long ScP (length from termination to pterostigma approximately equal to or less than that of pterostigma) [ Archiraphidia , Archiinocellia : greater than that of pterostigma]; (2) relatively short pterostigma [long in Florissantoraphidia , Archiinocellia ]; (3) crossvein 3ra-rp located within pterostigma [distad this in Phaeostigma Navás, 1909 and Agulla Navás, 1914a and the majority of other extant genera]; forewing: (4) costal space broad [relatively narrow in Florissantoraphidia ]; (5) branches of CuA, M long [short in Archiraphidia ]; hind wing: (6) basal crossvein 1r-m long, subparallel to R [crossvein-like in Agulla ]; (7) two doi [one in Archiraphidia ].

Type species. Megaraphidia elegans Cockerell, 1907 , by monotypy.

Species included. Megaraphidia antiquissima sp. nov.; M. ootsa sp. nov.; M. klondika sp. nov.; M. hopkinsi sp. nov.; M. elegans , M. exhumata (Cockerell, 1909) and Megaraphidia sp. ( Makarkin & Archibald, 2014).

Occurrence. The Ypresian to Priabonian of western North America.

Remarks. The venation of Megaraphidia is most similar to that of the extant European genus Phaeostigma ( Makarkin & Archibald, 2014) , but only superficially so. The Okanagan Highlands species are also rather similar to the extant North American Agulla by their long ScP and mostly (varies among species and individuals) simple branches of MP, whereas in Florissant species, these are mostly forked. However, the diagnostic character states are mostly plesiomorphic or their polarity is not clear, and therefore Megaraphidia might be paraphyletic.