The earliest Elcanidae (Insecta, Orthoptera) from the Upper Triassic of North America

Abstract

A new genus and species of the Elcanidae (Orthoptera, Elcanoidea), Cascadelcana virginiana n. gen. n. sp., is described based on a forewing specimen from the Upper Triassic (Norian) Cow Branch Formation in the Solite Quarry Lagerstätte near the North Carolina-Virginia boundary, USA. It is distinguished from other elcanid species by its RP+MA1 with six branches, M with two branches before stem MA1 fused with RP, and short CuA almost vertical against the posterior margin. This fossil represents the earliest definitive record of the family Elcanidae and the first orthopteran described from the Triassic of North America. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) analyses show that the veins and a pterostigma-like structure on the wing of C. virginiana n. gen. n. sp. are preserved as carbonaceous compressions. The presence of a pterostigma-like structure in elcanids indicates that they may have evolved a particular flight mechanism distinct from those of other orthopterans.UUID: http://zoobank.org/49526c99-5da4-48e3-ba6e-7018b8f9b1ae

WingSegment: A Computer Vision‐Based Hybrid Approach for Insect Wing Image Segmentation and 3D Printing

“…The code created for this approach is presented and described under Code S6, Supporting Information. [53] Pterostigma Detection: The Pterostigma is a feature commonly found in the wings of certain insect orders including Odonata, [1,68,69] Hymenoptera, [70] Orthoptera, [71] and Hemiptera. [72] However, the size, shape, and coloration of Pterostigma can vary among different species.…”

“…The Pterostigma is a feature commonly found in the wings of certain insect orders including Odonata, [ 1,68,69 ] Hymenoptera, [ 70 ] Orthoptera, [ 71 ] and Hemiptera. [ 72 ] However, the size, shape, and coloration of Pterostigma can vary among different species.…”

The first Elcanidae (Orthoptera, Elcanoidea) from the Daohugou fossil bed of northeastern China

“…The Elcanidae existed from the Upper Triassic to the Cretaceous in Eurasia and America (Handlirsch 1906; Sharov 1968; Martins-Neto 1991; Gorochov et al 2006; Poinar et al 2007; Peñalver and Grimaldi 2010; Fang et al 2015; Fang et al 2018a, Fang et al 2018b; Heads et al 2018; Tian et al 2019). So far 50 species in 16 genera have been described from compression fossils and ambers.…”