A new family of grylloblattids (Insecta: Grylloblattida) from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber

Abstract

The new grylloblattid family Aristoviidae Storozhenko & Gröhn fam. nov., with the type genus and species Aristovia daniili Storozhenko & Gröhn gen. et sp. nov., is described from the lowermost Cenomanian amber (Hukawng Valley, Kachin State, northern Myanmar). The new family is similar to the Permian-Triassic family Megakhosaridae and the Permian-Jurassic Blattogryllidae but differs from both by the shape of pronotum and wing venation. Aristoviidae fam. nov. is also similar to the extant family Grylloblattidae in body structure, but can easily be distinguished from it by the presence of ocelli, large compound eyes and wings, as well as the lack of the transverse furrow which separates the anterior part of pronotum from its posterior part. The phylogenetic relationships between families Megakhosaridae, Blattogryllidae, Grylloblattidae, and a new family are briefly discussed.