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| Kaluginamyia enigmatica Lukashevich, Pepinelli & Currie, 2019 |
Abstract
Simulioidea are extremely rare in the fossil record of the Mesozoic, when members of Culicomorpha originated. Based on numerous compressions from the Cretaceous of Asia (Khasurty and Baissa, Western Transbaikalia and Gurvan-Ereny-Nuruu, Mongolia) a new monotypic family, Kaluginamyiidae fam. nov., is described. Members of the new family bear a marked resemblance to Simuliidae, but lack many of the synapomorphies ascribed to that family, including: eye of male with a line of discontinuity between large upper facets and small lower facets, hind basitarsus laterally flattened and ventrally keeled, tergite I of abdomen with posterior fringe of long hairs, a single large spermatheca, and probably claw of male with dorsal grooved lobes. Most of these features are known to be present in previously described Mesozoic black flies. Other characters of the new family, such as the basal shift of crossvein r-m and elongation of Rs and the M1 + 2 fork, are typical of Thaumaleidae; however, the extremely long Rs, originating at the level of the humeral crossvein, is unique in the new family. The new family also exhibits a suite of plesiomorphic characters previously unknown in Simulioidea; namely, a long antenna with 12 flagellomeres and both CuP and A1 thick and subparallel. Some features of the new family, such as shortening of the maxillary palp (at least in the male) and sigmoid pleural suture on the thorax are unknown in Culicomorpha. However, such features are common in basal lineages of certain Bibionomorpha (Anisopodidae: Mycetobiinae and Scatopsoidea). These peculiarities notwithstanding, the overall gestalt of the fossils, the small antennal pedicel in both sexes, the absence of ocelli, the general shape and venation of the wing point to a close (perhaps sister-group) relationship with simuliids.
Keywords: new taxa, black flies, Simuliidae, seepage midges, Thaumaleidae, Scatopsoidea, Early Cretaceous
Superfamily Simulioidea Newman, 1834
Family Kaluginamyiidae fam. nov.
Genus Kaluginamyia gen. nov.
Type species. Kaluginamyia enigmatica sp. nov.;
Early Cretaceous of Transbaikalia.
Included species. Kaluginamyia enigmatica sp. nov., Kaluginamyia baissica sp. nov.
Etymology. The genus is dedicated to Nadezhda Kalugina, an outstanding expert on Mesozoic nematocerous flies, including Simuliidae.
Occurrence. Early Cretaceous of Asia (Baissa, Khasurty, Gurvan-Ereny-Nuruu).
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| Kaluginamyia enigmatica gen. et sp. nov., Khasurty, K1. holotype PIN, No. 5026/1077, female, total view (inset, head), under alcohol |
Kaluginamyia enigmatica sp. nov
Etymology. From the curious combination of plesiomorphic and apomorphic character states exhibited by this species.
Kaluginamyia baissica sp. nov.
Etymology. The species name is derived from name of the type locality
Occurrence. Western Transbaikalia, Buryatia, Eravnensk District, on the left bank of Vitim river, 3 km below mouth of river Baissa (53 180 N 112 50 E); Zaza Formation, Lower Cretaceous.
Conclusions:
Kaluginamyia gen. nov. is an enigmatic Mesozoic lineage of nematocerous Diptera with a complex array of primitive and derived character states. Although certain peculiarities of the head and thorax of the new genus are shared with members of Bibionomorpha, the preponderance of evidence points to a closer relationship with the culicomorphan superfamily Simulioidea – in particular Simuliidae. While an argument could be made to assign Kaluginamyia gen. nov. to that family, the lack of convincing synapomorphies, in combination with the considerable morphological gap between members of that genus and all known extinct and extant simuliids, induces us to propose a new family. Better-preserved material is needed to clarify certain characters of the head and thorax, including the wings and legs. But even if the hypothesis of a sister-group relationship between Kaluginamyiidae fam. nov. and Simuliidae is upheld in view of future discoveries, specialists may nonetheless be inclined to maintain separate family status given the marked morphological disparity between the two lineagesElena D. Lukashevich, Mateus Pepinelli and Douglas C. Currie. 2019. A New Family and Genus of Mesozoic Simulioidea (Insecta: Diptera). Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. DOI: 10.1080/14772019.2019.1588796
