New stem-dictyopteran insects from the Pennsylvanian deposits at Mazon Creek and Sosnowiec (Insecta: Polyneoptera)
Abstract
Polyneopteran clade of insects is very diverse and has a remarkable fossil history starting in the Late Palaeozoic. Representatives of Dictyoptera comprise roaches, termites and mantids and their stem group relatives like the common Palaeozoic and Mesozoic roachoids, a group well known for its problematic taxonomy.
In this study, two new taxa are described based on forewing venation well displaying convexity or concavity of the veins due to preservation in spherosideritic concretions. A new paoliid, Stephanopsis testai sp. nov. (Blattinopsidae), from Moscovian deposits at Mazon Creek (Illinois, U.S.A.), supplements Stephanopsis mirandus found at the same locality, which mainly differs in the branching patterns of MP and anal veins.
A new stem dictyopteran, Sosnowiecia dareki gen. nov. et sp. nov. (?Mesorthopteridae), from Langsettian deposits at Sosnowiec-Klimontów (Lower Silesia, Poland) is problematic in terms of taxonomy as it has a mosaic of characters characteristic of Paoliida, Eoblattida and Grylloblattida, but retains affinities with roachoid insects, such as Miroblatta sp. Hence, these two new species increase the diversity of Carboniferous polyneopteran insects, but reveals the problem of depending only on alar characters in taxonomy.