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The new stick insect family Gallophasmatidae, based on Gallophasma longipalpis gen. et sp.n., from the Earliest Eocene French amber has a pattern of tegmina venation typical of Archaeorthoptera, also present in at least some Mesozoic 'Phasmatodea'. On the other hand, Gallophasma displays in its body anatomy some apomorphies of the extant Euphasmatodea, e.g. fusion of metatergum and abdominal tergum 1, correlated with the reduction of abdominal sternum 1 to lateral triangular sclerites. A unique autapomorphy of Gallophasma is the presence of annulated and apparently multi-segmented or pseudo-segmented cerci; all other Phasmatodea have one-segmented cerci. The venation of the tegmina of Gallophasma differs from that of extant winged Phasmatodea in the plesiomorphic absence of a knob-like dorsal eversion. This and other differences in the wing venation between extant and extinct Phasmatodea might have been caused by the loss of wings at some point in the evolutionary history of the order and their secondary gain in a subclade of the extant phasmids.

Eodysagrion mikkelseni gen. et sp. nov., type species of the new subfamily Eodysagrioninae, and the dysagrionine Primorilestes madseni sp. nov., the first thaumatoneurid damselflies from the lowermost Eocene of Denmark, are described. They confirm the presence of this American family in the Palaeogene of Western Europe.

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Three fossil taxa of megapodagrionid damselflies are described and figured from the Paleogene localities in Europe on the basis of isolated wings. Eckfeldia superstes (Wappler, 2003) gen. nov. is described from the laminated mudstones of middle Eocene age from Eckfeld Maar, Germany. Furagrion jutlandicus (Henriksen, 1922) gen. nov. is recorded from the laminated claystones of lowermost Eocene age from the Ølst and Fur-Formation, Denmark, and an undetermined megapodagrionid damselfly is recognized from middle Eocene strata. Taphonomy and color preservation in the fossils are briefly considered. Characters used for phylogenetic analyses in extant and fossil Megapodagrionidae are discussed. The biogeographic and paleoecological implications of the new European fossils are briefly discussed.

A new genus and species of Rhachiberothidae, Raptorapax terribilissima gen. et sp. nov. from the Cretaceous amber of Lebanon is described. The new genus is assigned to the subfamily Paraberothinae. The new material confirms the great diversity of the group in the Cretaceous age and its decrease in diversity in recent times.

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Abstract. The limits and diffi culties related to the tools currently in use for palaeosynecological comparisons of faunas or fl oras of different geological periods are discussed. The new method of the Wagner parsimony Applied to Palaeosynecology Using Morphology (WAPUM method), is defi ned and tested on morphological characters gathered from two insect groups Odonatoptera and Thripida. The diffi culties related to the monophyly of the taxonomic groups used in the more traditional approaches are no longer a problem when using the WAPUM method. In the WAPUM a character is 'presence versus absence of species bearing a morphological structure'. The results obtained from use of the WAPUM minimize the number of changes among character states. Application of the WAPUM could reveal signals to confi rm or object the currently available scenarios for the global changes in the evolution of past diversity and disparity of organisms (major changes or global crises of diversity).Résumé. La parcimonie de Wagner sur base de caractères morphologiques : une nouvelle méthode pour les études paléosynécologiques. Les limites et diffi cultés inhérentes aux outils actuellement utilisés dans les comparaisons paléosynécologiques de faunes ou de fl ores de différentes périodes géologiques sont discutées. La nouvelle méthode de la parsimonie de Wagner appliquée à la paléosynécologie sur la base de caractères morphologiques (méthode WAPUM), est défi nie et testée à partir des caractères morphologiques de deux groupes d'insectes, les Odonatoptera et les Thripida. Les diffi cultés liées à la monophylie des groupes taxonomiques utilisés dans les approches plus traditionnelles disparaissent avec la méthode WAPUM. Dans l'approche WAPUM, un caractère est 'présence/absence d'une espèce portant une structure morphologique'. Les résultats obtenus à partir de la méthode WAPUM minimisent le nombre de changements d'état de caractères. Cet outil permet de tester les scénarios actuellement disponibles pour les changements globaux dans l'évolution de la diversité et de la disparité passée des organismes (changements majeurs ou crises globales de la diversité).