Fossil Record 20(2): 129-145, doi: 10.5194/fr-20-129-2017
The blueprint of the Amphiesmenoptera – Tarachoptera, a new order of insects from Burmese amber (Insecta, Amphiesmenoptera)
Wolfram S. Mey‡,
Wilfried Wichard§,
Patrick Müller,
Bo Wang ‡ Museum fuer Naturkunde, Berlin, Germany§ Universitat zu Koln, Köln, Germany
© Wolfram Mey, Wilfried Wichard, Patrick Müller, Bo Wang. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Citation:
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AbstractBased on a total of 14 inclusions from Burmese amber the newinsect order Tarachoptera is established. The familyTarachocelidae previously described from Burmese amber and then placed in Amphiesmenopteraincertae sedis is assigned to this new order. The genus Kinitocelis gen. nov. isestablished to accommodate three new fossil species: K. hennigi spec. nov., K. divisinotata spec.nov. and K. brevicostata spec. nov. The new genus differs from Tarachocelis gen. nov. by the absence ofandroconial scales on the wings and the loss of Cu2 in the forewings. Thespecies are described in detail and the critical characters are illustratedby line drawings and photos. Both males and females were described. Thespecies can be distinguished by traits in the wing venation. The new orderTarachoptera is placed in the superorder Amphiesmenoptera based on thepresence of seven amphiesmenopteran apomorphies and nine tarachopteranapomorphies. Apomorphic characters of Trichoptera and Lepidoptera could notbe disclosed, which suggests an independent origin and evolution from anamphiesmenopteran ancestor which was not the ancestor of theTrichoptera-Lepidoptera clade. The species of Tarachoptera are tiny insectswith a wing span of 2.3–4.5 mm but highly specialized according to theiraberrant morphology. Aspects of the presumed life history of the adults werededuced from some of the derived morphological traits that could beinterpreted as adaptations to a highly structured micro-environment.