Choristopsyche cf. asticta Qiao et al., 2013.

Taxonomy

Scorpionfly

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda Latreille 1829
Class: Insecta Linnaeus 1758
Order: Mecoptera Packard 1886
Family: Choristopsychidae Martynov 1937
Genus: Choristopsyche
Species: Choristopsyche cf. asticta
Author Citation Qiao et al., 2013

Geological Time Scale

Eon: Phanerozoic
Era: Mesozoic
Period: Jurassic
Sub Period: None
Epoch: Middle
International Age: Callovian to Oxfordian

Stratigraphy

Jiulongshan Formation
Daohugou Bed

Provenance

Acquired by: Purchase/Trade

Dimensions

Length: 30 mm

Location

Daohugou Village
Ningcheng County
Inner Mongolia
China

• choristopsyche
• daohugou
• inner mongolia
• jiulongshan formation
• jurassic
• tff-oilshale-ar2313

Comments

There are additional unidentified conchostraca (clam shrimps, arthropods) on the slab.

The age of the Daohugou strata has been notoriously difficult to determine, and a number of studies have produced conflicting results. Gao and Shubin, 2001 reported an Argon-argon dating age of 164 ±4 million years ago (Middle to Late Jurassic, Bathonian to Oxfordian); this opinion is now widely accepted.

Taxonomy according to Fossilworks.org.

Emended diagnosis for Choristopsychidae according to Qiao et al., 2013, p. 93: "Forewing broad oval or subtriangular, field between C and ScP comparatively broad; ScP well developed and forked twice, forming three long branches; RA unforked, one crossvein between ScP and RA and between RA and RP; RP and MA both with two branches; MP with five branches, and the MP₄₊₅ forking basal to the MP₂₊₃ forking; MP and CuA merged at the base; CuA strongly bent at its mid point; an oblique crossvein between CuA and CuP; a curved crossvein between the midpoint of CuA and MP₅; CuP, 1A and 2A almost parallel. Hind wing, similar in shape to the forewing but slightly smaller, ScP short, forked twice, the second bifurcation coalesces with RA for a short distance; RP and MA both with two branches; MP with five branches, the stem of MP₄₊₅ forked earlier than that of forewing, and with a crossvein to CuA; CuA almost straight. Head, oviform with big and oval compound eyes; antennae long and filiform; small chewing mouthpart. Thorax: prothorax smaller than mesothorax and metathorax. Legs: long and slender, all legs nearly of the same shape, but hind legs longer than fore legs and mid legs, and femora wider than tibia, and tibia longer than femora. Abdomen slender, tapering apically, about eleven segments and the female terminal segment with cercus."

 

 

Choristopsyche asticta, line drawing of the holotype from Qiao et al., 2013, p. 100.

Identified by Prof. A. Rasnitsyn (Russian Academy of Sciences) as Choristopsyche cf. asticta Qiao et al., 2013.

Reference:

Gao K Q, Shubin N. (2001): Late Jurassic salamanders from Northern China. Nature, 410: 574–577.

Martynov, A. V. (1937): Liassic insects from Shurab and Kisyl-Kiya, Part I, Various orders except Blattodea and Coleoptera. Akademiya Nauk SSSR, Trudy Paleontologicheskogo Instituta 7: 1-178.

Qiao, X., Shih, C. K., Petrulevičius, J. F., and Ren, D. (2013): Fossils from the Middle Jurassic of China shed light on morphology of Choristopsychidae (Insecta, Mecoptera). ZooKeys 318: 91-111.

link