''Alavaraphidia'' is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

snakefly Snakeflies are a group of Predation, predatory insects comprising the order (biology), order Raphidioptera with two extant families: Raphidiidae and Inocelliidae, consisting of roughly 260 species. In the past, the group had a much wider distrib ...

in the family Mesoraphidiidae. The genus is solely known from an

Early Cretaceous The Early Cretaceous ( geochronological name) or the Lower Cretaceous (chronostratigraphic name), is the earlier or lower of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous. It is usually considered to stretch from 145 Ma to 100.5 Ma. Geology Pro ...

, Albian age, fossil amber found in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. Currently, the genus comprises a single species, ''Alavaraphidia imperterrita''.

History and classification

''Alavaraphidia imperterrita'' is known only from one fossil, the

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...

, specimen number MCNA 13608. The specimen is composed of a mostly complete adult insect with the majority of the wing missing. The body is positioned so a ventral view is shown and the dorsal sides are obscured. Despite the positioning and lack of preserved wings, enough details are present to show the specimen was not from a previously described genus. The specimen is included in a small piece of amber which lacks other major inclusions. The fossil was recovered from outcrops of the

Escucha Formation The Escucha Formation is a geological formation in La Rioja and Teruel provinces of northeastern Spain whose strata date back to the late Aptian to middle Albian stages of the Early Cretaceous. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have bee ...

in Moraza, part of the

Province of Burgos The Province of Burgos is a province of northern Spain, in the northeastern part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is bordered by the provinces of Palencia, Cantabria, Vizcaya, Álava, La Rioja, Soria, Segovia, and Valladolid. ...

in Northern Spain. ''Alavaraphidia'' was first studied by a group of paleoentomologists led by Ricardo Pérez-de la Fuente of the

University of Barcelona The University of Barcelona ( ca, Universitat de Barcelona, UB; ; es, link=no, Universidad de Barcelona) is a public university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, in Spain. With 63,000 students, it is one of the biggest universities i ...

and including Enrique Peñalver, Xavier Delclòs, and Michael S. Engel. Their 2012

type description A species description is a formal description of a newly discovered species, usually in the form of a scientific paper. Its purpose is to give a clear description of a new species of organism and explain how it differs from species that have be ...

of the new genus and species was published in the electronic journal ''

ZooKeys ''ZooKeys'' is a peer-reviewed open access scientific journal covering zoological taxonomy, phylogeny, and biogeography. It was established in 2008 and the editor-in-chief is Terry Erwin (Smithsonian Institution). It is published by Pensoft Publ ...

''. The genus name ''Alavaraphidia'' was coined by the researchers as a combination of the snakefly genus '' Raphidia'' and "Álava" which is in honor of the Álava amber deposits that preserved the specimen. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''imperterrita'' is from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

''imperterritus'' meaning "fearless". The authors chose this as a reference to the unalterable nature of organisms trapped in amber. ''Alavaraphidia imperterrita'' is one of six described snakefly species found in the Albian deposits of Cantabria.

Description

The lone specimen of ''Alavaraphidia imperterrita'' is a fairly well preserved partial adult female. Not including the

ovipositor The ovipositor is a tube-like organ used by some animals, especially insects, for the laying of eggs. In insects, an ovipositor consists of a maximum of three pairs of appendages. The details and morphology of the ovipositor vary, but typical ...

the overall body length is with a . Generally the body coloration is dark with a striped patterning on the legs. The rhomboidal head shows large compound eyes set midway along its length. There are three large

ocelli A simple eye (sometimes called a pigment pit) refers to a form of eye or an optical arrangement composed of a single lens and without an elaborate retina such as occurs in most vertebrates. In this sense "simple eye" is distinct from a multi-l ...

placed to the rear of the head behind the compound eyes and antennae. The antennae are notably long, being composed of forty four

flagellomeres Antennae ( antenna), sometimes referred to as "feelers", are paired appendages used for sensing in arthropods. Antennae are connected to the first one or two segments of the arthropod head. They vary widely in form but are always made of one o ...

which are each 1.5 times longer than they are wide. While mostly missing from the specimen, what is preserved of the wings shows they were

hyaline A hyaline substance is one with a glassy appearance. The word is derived from el, ὑάλινος, translit=hyálinos, lit=transparent, and el, ὕαλος, translit=hýalos, lit=crystal, glass, label=none. Histopathology Hyaline cartilage is ...

with brown veins and very short, strong

setae In biology, setae (singular seta ; from the Latin word for "bristle") are any of a number of different bristle- or hair-like structures on living organisms. Animal setae Protostomes Annelid setae are stiff bristles present on the body. Th ...

. The abdomen is long and sports a robust

that has dense annulations along its length. The ovipositor is approximately long, thick, sporting short, stiff, sensory setae along its length and a club-shaped gonostyli.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4708867 Raphidioptera Early Cretaceous insects Fossil taxa described in 2012 Prehistoric insects of Europe Natural history of Spain