NEW MATERIAL OF SINOALIDAE (INSECTA, HEMIPTERA) IN MID-CRETACEOUS KACHIN AMBER FROM NORTHERN MYANMAR
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Abstract:
The extinct family Sinoalidae (Hemiptera: Cicadomorpha), as one of the primitive representatives of Clypeata, belongs to the froghopper superfamily Cercopoidea. This family was previously recognized from the uppermost Middle to lowermost Up-per Jurassic of northeastern China, and very recently reported in the mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber from northern Myanmar, with three genera and species erected (Fangyuania xiai, Jiaotouia minuta and Ornatiala amoena). The present study de-scribed and illustrated the second species of the genus Ornatiala based on one single fossil specimen trapped in a piece of Kachin amber. Our new phylogenetic analysis further confirms the systematic position of the new taxon. Prominent color patterns on tegmina have different functions for insects, such as sexual attraction, mimicry and camou-flage. Most reported sinoalids possess monochromatic tegmina; the new species described herein, however, bears tegmina with highly contrasting color pattern (probable disruptive colouration) as the type species of Ornatiala. The bifurcation of tegminal MP of the new species is migrated to wing apex, apicad of the bifurcation of CuA and claval apex, which is dis-tinctly different from that of Ornatiala amoena as well as most known sinoalids. Nevertheless, considering that relative branching position of longitudinal veins are instable for some early cercopoids, whether this morphological character is a di-agnostic trait of the new species should be further checked on the basis of additional fossil data. Our new material further explores the diversity of Sinoalidae, and also provides some new information on the taxonomy, ecology and evolution of the highly abundant Mesozoic Clypeata: Cercopoidea.
