Lebanosmylus leae, Azar & Nel, 2022

Azar, Dany & Nel, André, 2022, The youngest and first Lebanese representative of the family Saucrosmylidae (Insecta, Neuroptera) from the Cenomanian, Palaeoentomology 5 (2), pp. 155-160 : 156

Lebanosmylus leae sp. nov.

( Figs 1 , 2 ) urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:2006186C-A70E-44CD-984A-8D86E7EC7518

Material. Holotype (part and counterpart of an incomplete wing), Hussein Ibrahim collection, will be deposited in the Natural History Museum of the Lebanese University, Faculty of Sciences II, Fanar, Lebanon.

Etymology. Named after Lea Ibrahim, daughter of Hussein Ibrahim, discoverer of the material.

Diagnosis. As for the genus.

Type locality and horizon. Mid-Cenomanian, Late Cretaceous, in marine lithographic limestone of the famous Hjoula fossil fishes outcrop ( Maksoud & Azar, 2021; Azar et al., 2019).

Description. An incomplete wing, with base, fragments of mid-part, and apex missing, preserved part 40.2 mm long, wing very broad, 20.0 mm wide, with a broad cubital area (possibly a hind wing); wing dark brown, with three transverse hyaline zones (somewhat similar to those in the hind wing of Bellinympha filicifolia ; see Wang et al., 2010), and no dark spots; costal area 1.7 mm wide, rather narrow (hind wing?), with numerous simple and short veinlets; ScP and R straight, ScP ending into RA at ca. 13.2 mm of wing apex; RA(+ScP) with numerous elongate anterior veinlets, some forked; no presectorial crossveins visible; area between RP and RA quite broad, broadest medially and distally narrowed near point of fusion of ScP with RA, with faint traces of at least two rows of irregular cells; base of RP virtually close to wing base; first posterior branch of RP (MA sensu Liu et al., 2013) with a long stem and numerous distal branches, covering a very broad area; base of second branch of RP close to that of first branch, second branch straight and simple; eight more distal posterior branches of RP covering a broad area; pattern of crossveins between them poorly visible but no anterior Banksian fold; anteriormost branch of M (MP1 sensu Liu et al., 2013) simple and curved; posterior-most branch of M (MP2 sensu Liu et al., 2013) separated from CuA (no oblique vein ‘O’), with three or four posterior branches; CuA covering a very broad area with numerous elongate posterior branches (at least six or seven preserved); CuP and anal veins not preserved; posterior margin of wing sigmoidally curved.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Lebanosmylus leae gen. et sp. nov., holotype, wing. A, Photograph. B, Photograph with inverted colors. C, Line drawing, terminology of venation after Liu et al. (2013). Scale bars = 10 mm.

FIGURE 2. Lebanosmylus leae gen. et sp. nov., holotype, wing counterpart. A, Photograph. B, Photograph with inverted colors. C, Line drawing. Scale bars = 10 mm.