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Issue: Vol. 2 No. 4: December 2025
Type: Article
Published: 2025-12-31
DOI: 10.11646/mesozoic.2.4.5
Page range: 329–355
Abstract views: 35
PDF downloaded: 23

New Parachoristidae and “Orthophlebiidae” from the Tongchuan entomofauna and their implications on the early evolution of Panorpoidea

Institute of Palaeontology, Yunnan Key Laboratory of Earth System Science, Yunnan University, Kunming 650500, China; State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China; Southwest United Graduate School, Kunming 650092, China
scorpionflies parachoristid new taxa Yanchang Formation Ordos Basin

Abstract

The Panorpoidea are among the most diverse groups of Mecoptera throughout geological time and the present day, commonly known as scorpionflies for their bulbous and upturned male genitalia resembling scorpion tails. The Mesozoic “Orthophlebiidae” and the Permian–Triassic Parachoristidae, representing basal lineages of Panorpoidea, are closely related and share several similar wing characters, thus hindering our understanding of their evolutionary history. Although the “Orthophlebiidae” were highly diverse during the Jurassic, their Triassic record remains limited. Herein, eight new species belonging to two genera of Parachoristidae and two new species belonging to two genera of “Orthophlebiidae” are described and illustrated from the Middle Triassic Tongchuan entomofauna, greatly expanding the known palaeodiversity of these families during the Triassic. The newly described species renders the Tongchuan entomofauna the most diverse entomofauna of Parachoristidae known worldwide. Protorthophlebia prajna sp. nov. and Orthophlebia xiangyu sp. nov. represent the earliest unambiguous “Orthophlebiidae” erected based on forewings, prompting a thorough revision of Triassic “Orthophlebiidae” and some coeval parachoristids exhibiting overlapping characters. Two previously established species of “Orthophlebiidae” from the Tongchuan entomofauna are redescribed based on new material.

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