Insect wing

[paleoflor]

L.S.,

 

The photographs below show a 23 mm-long fragment of an insect wing, which I found in the Moscovian (Late Carboniferous) of the Piesberg, near Osnabrück, Lower Saxony (Germany). Unfortunately, the specimen was found exposed on very weathered shale. It fragmented on the slightest touch, forcing me to glue it in the quarry to get it home at all. Not ideal, but better than letting it crumble to dust, I guess.

 

The three images show low magnification microscope photographs. I also made a crude stitch, to better show the overall shape of the 23 mm-long wing. Since animals are not my strong suit, I would certainly appreciate any help with further identification of this fragment!

 

Thanks,

Tim

 

 

 

  

 

 

[Brian James Maguire]

Beautiful 

[Fossildude19]

I would look at Blattodea - fossil cockroach wings.

[Mark Kmiecik]

It does resemble a cockroach forewing.

[paleoflor]

L.S.,

 

Thanks all for the feedback and suggestions! 

 

Using this Wikpedia page, I tried to interpret the wing structure and to identify the different veins of the "archedictyon". Does my interpretation seem reasonable? The radius fits the text description rather well, I think, with first a fork creating an undivided branch (R1) and a branch (Ra) that subdivides dichotomously into four distal branches (R2-R5). The media also seems a fairly close match, with the anterior (MA) and posterior (MP) branches dividing into two and four distal branches, respectively, as described in the Wikipedia text. But then things get rather tricky... it seems the base of the wing might be missing? Not sure about the cubitus, but the Wikipedia text does mention it tends to branch close to the base (which may be missing) and the two veins identified as its branches are convex and concave, also fitting the text description.

 

The same Wikipedia article also provides a specific description for Blattodea wings (need to scroll a bit further down the page). This description states the radius of cockroach forewings has multiple pectinate branches, which I do not really recognize in my fossil specimen. The area covered by the media in the fossil is also very large compared to the Wikipedia description for cockroach wings. Conversely, the cubitus occupies only a small area on the fossil wing, while this vein system seems to cover a significant portion of Blattodea wings. It therefore seems unlikely to me this wing is from a cockroach, unless I simply misinterpreted the layout of the vein system, of course... Would love to hear your thoughts!

 

Kind regards,

Tim   

[Mark Kmiecik]

Perhaps speciation accounts for some of the variation. I'm not an expert on this subject, but it seems like a possibility considering the number of species that have been described.