The oldest representative of the family Austropanorpidae (Mecoptera) from the Lower Jurassic of Siberia

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe family Austropanorpidae (Mecoptera) was described by Willmann in 1977 from the Eocene of Australia, based on one genus and species, Austropanorpa australis Riek, 1952. During a restudy of the collection of the Paleontological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow, a second and much older representative of this family was found. This specimen, described as Orthophlebia martynovae Sukatsheva, 1985 from Siberia (Russia), was considered until now to be a member of family Orthophlebiidae. We transfer this species to the Austropanorpidae, extending the age of this family back to the Early Jurassic. An updated diagnoses of the family Austropanorpidae and genus Austropanorpa are presented here.