The earliest Mesopsychidae and revision of the family Mesopanorpodidae (Mecoptera)

• Main Author: Alexey Bashkuev
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Pensoft Publishers 2011-09-01
• Series: ZooKeys
• Subjects: Mesopsychidae; Mesopanorpodes; Mesopsyche; Permopsyche; Bittacopanorpa; Permian; Triassic; new taxa; revision
• Online Access: http://zookeys.pensoft.net/lib/ajax_srv/article_elements_srv.php?action=download_pdf&item_id=2746

The family Mesopanorpodidae is revised. Most taxa referred to this family are not related to the type genus Mesopanorpodes Tillyard, 1918. The type species of the latter, Mesopanorpodes wianamattensis, is closely related to Mesopsyche Tillyard, 1917. Therefore Mesopanorpodes is transferred to Mesopsychidae Tillyard, 1917 (= Mesopanorpodidae Tillyard, 1918, syn. n.). The earliest Mesopsychidae are described from the Upper Permian of European Russia (Severodvinian; Isady locality, Vologda Province): Permopsyche issadensis gen. et sp. n. (type species) and P. rasnitsyni sp. n. Two species described under Mesopanorpodes from the Upper Permian of Australia are also included into Permopsyche: P. belmontensis (Riek, 1953) comb. n., P. robustus (Riek, 1953) comb. n. The first pre-Triassic Mesopsyche, M. incompleta sp. n. is described from the uppermost Permian (the town of Vyazniki, Vladimir Province). Bittacopanorpa javorskii Zalessky, 1935 from the uppermost Permian or basal Triassic of Kuznetsk Basin is identified as a hindwing of Mesopsyche: M. javorskii (Zalessky, 1935) comb. n. The origin, evolutionary history, and stratigraphic occurrence of Mesopsychidae are discussed.