''Amarantoraphidia'' 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 Mesoraphidiidae is an extinct family (biology), family of snakeflies in the suborder Raphidiomorpha. The family lived from the Late Jurassic through the Late Cretaceous and is known from twenty-five genera. Mesoraphidiids have been found as both ...

. The genus is solely known from

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 only a single species ''Amarantoraphidia ventolina''.

History and classification

''Amarantoraphidia ventolina'' 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 CES 364.1. The specimen is composed of a mostly complete adult insect with the wing tips missing. The apical third of the right hindwing is also gone and the left front most leg has been disarticulated. The specimen is included in a piece of amber with plant debris and a number of other insects, such as a

thysanoptera Thrips ( order Thysanoptera) are minute (mostly long or less), slender insects with fringed wings and unique asymmetrical mouthparts. Different thrips species feed mostly on plants by puncturing and sucking up the contents, although a few are ...

hymenoptera Hymenoptera is a large order (biology), order of insects, comprising the sawfly, sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants. Over 150,000 living species of Hymenoptera have been described, in addition to over 2,000 extinct ones. Many of the species are Par ...

ns. and

diptera Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced ...

ns. 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. ''Amarantoraphidia'' was first studied by 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 ''Amarantoraphidia'' was coined by the researchers as a combination of the snakefly genus ''

Raphidia ''Raphidia'' is a genus of snakefly, mainly found in Europe. Species The following are included in ''BioLib.cz'': ;subgenus ''Aserbeidshanoraphidia'' Aspöck & Aspöck, 1968 * '' Raphidia nuchensis'' H. Aspöck et al., 1968 ;subgenus ''Nigroraph ...

'' and the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

''amarantos'' meaning "ageless" or "that never fades". 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 ...

''ventolina'' is a reference to the Cantabrian mythologies ventolines. These were said to be cheerful air beings with warm green wings which helped fishermen when summoned. ''Amarantoraphidia ventolina'' is one of six described snakefly species found in the Albian deposits of Cantabria.

Description

The lone specimen of ''Amarantoraphidia ventolina'' is a fairly well preserved adult female. The

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 ...

forewings are partially preserved, displaying brown vein structuring that hosts robust

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 ...

, notably along the C-vein. The forewings are incomplete, with the tip beyond the end of the

pterostigma The pterostigma (plural: pterostigmata) is a group of specialized cells in the outer insect wing, wings of insects, which are often thickened or coloured, and thus stand out from other cells. It is particularly noticeable in dragonfly, dragonfli ...

not present. As such the overall length is estimated to have been in length and a maximum of in width. The pterostigma is elongated with a slightly infumate and has a base end closed with a cross vein. Other than the basal cross vein the pterostigma is not crossed by any veins. Overall the legs show a striped pattern of dark and light patches. The tibia have three distinct dark patches while the femora have a light proximal half and darkened apical half. The integument is a dark brown in color. The abdomen is long and sports a robust

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 ...

that has dense annulations along its length. The ovipositor is long, thick, and sports short, stiff, sensory

along its length.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4740181 Raphidioptera Early Cretaceous insects Fossil taxa described in 2012 Prehistoric insects of Europe Natural history of Spain Taxa named by Michael S. Engel