New Fossil Lepidoptera (Insecta: Amphiesmenoptera) from the Middle Jurassic Jiulongshan Formation of Northeastern China

Abstract

BackgroundThe early history of the Lepidoptera is poorly known, a feature attributable to an inadequate preservational potential and an exceptionally low occurrence of moth fossils in relevant mid-Mesozoic deposits. In this study, we examine a particularly rich assemblage of morphologically basal moths that contribute significantly toward the understanding of early lepidopteran biodiversity.Methodology/Principal FindingsOur documentation of early fossil moths involved light- and scanning electron microscopic examination of specimens, supported by various illumination and specimen contrast techniques. A total of 20 moths were collected from the late Middle Jurassic Jiulongshan Formation in Northeastern China. Our principal results were the recognition and description of seven new genera and seven new species assigned to the Eolepidopterigidae; one new genus with four new species assigned to the Mesokristenseniidae; three new genera with three new species assigned to the Ascololepidopterigidae fam. nov.; and one specimen unassigned to family. Lepidopteran assignment of these taxa is supported by apomorphies of extant lineages, including the M1 vein, after separation from the M2 vein, subtending an angle greater than 60 degrees that is sharply angulate at the junction with the r–m crossvein (variable in Trichoptera); presence of a foretibial epiphysis; the forewing M vein often bearing three branches; and the presence of piliform scales along wing veins.Conclusions/SignificanceThe diversity of these late Middle Jurassic lepidopterans supports a conclusion that the Lepidoptera–Trichoptera divergence occurred by the Early Jurassic.

The blueprint of the Amphiesmenoptera – Tarachoptera, a new order of insects from Burmese amber (Insecta, Amphiesmenoptera)

“…It is the most conspicuous and diagnostic groundplan autapomorphy currently recognized for the Lepidoptera (Kristensen and Skalski, 1998). All fossil families were assigned to the stem group of Lepidoptera with Archaeolepidae, Eolepidopterigidae, Mesokristenseniidae and Ascololepidopterigidae described from the Mesozoic (Zhang et al, 2013). For the Eolepidopterigidae the suborder Eolepidopterigina was established (Rasnitsyn, 1983).…”

Variable wing venation inAgathiphaga(Lepidoptera: Agathiphagidae) is key to understanding the evolution of basal moths

“…But although lepidopteran phylogeny is now very well understood, attempts to reconstruct primitive wing venation are lagging far behind. Recent advances in this area have relied heavily on fossils [13,14] and somewhat unsurprisingly—given the paucity of Mesozoic fossil moths—the latest illustration of primitive lepidopteran wing venation [13] bears a close resemblance to wing venation of Micropterigidae (figure 1 a,b ), the better studied of the two earliest diverging families of extant moths [15].

Figure 1.Forewing venation of the most basal crown Lepidoptera.

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Figure 1.Forewing venation of the most basal crown Lepidoptera. ( a ) A recent reconstruction of the primitive lepidopteran forewing venation groundplan [13]. ( b ) Venation of Sabatinca calliarcha Meyrick 1912 [15].

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Four new species of hangingflies (Insecta, Mecoptera, Bittacidae) from the Middle Jurassic of northeastern China

“…The section at Daohugou Village is composed of grey tuffaceous sandstone and sandy mudstone (Ren et al 2002). This formation has yielded abundant and diverse insect fossils (Ren et al 2010), such as Lepidoptera (Zhang et al 2013), Mecoptera (Ren et al 2009; Wang et al 2012; Wang et al 2014), Hymenoptera (Shih et al 2010; Li et al 2013; Wang et al 2014), Diptera (Liu et al 2012), Neuroptera (Wang et al 2010) and many others insects (Gao et al 2012). …”