''Araneagryllus'' 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 ...

monotypic genus of

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

in the subfamily

Phalangopsinae Phalangopsinae, occasionally known as spider crickets, are a subfamily of crickets in the family Phalangopsidae. Members of Phalangopsinae are found worldwide in tropical and subtropical regions. Most species in the subfamily are nocturnal and c ...

with the sole species ''Araneagryllus dylani''. The fossil was recovered in the Dominican Republic from early Miocene Burdigalian stage Dominican amber deposits on the island of

Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ; es, La Española; Latin and french: Hispaniola; ht, Ispayola; tnq, Ayiti or Quisqueya) is an island in the Caribbean that is part of the Greater Antilles. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and th ...

. ''Araneagryllus'' is the first Phalangopsinae cricket to be described from the fossil record. The genus is known from a single long female specimen, the holotype, currently deposited in the collections of the

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 inter ...

in New York City, as number "DR-12-32", and which was first studied by Dr. Sam W. Heads. Dr. Heads published his 2010

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 ...

in the '' Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society'' volume number 158. The genus name is a combination of the Latin ''aranea'' meaning "spider" and ''gryllus'', meaning "cricket" in reference to the common name given the subfamily where ''Araneagryllus'' is placed. The species name is in honor of Dylan L. Heads, son of Dr. Heads. The female has a notable development of a white "emulsion" developed around the mouth parts and on the abdomen. ''Araneagryllus dylani'' possesses a wide shield-like, pronotum which has irregularly spaced setae and prominent ridges along the center and margins. The legs are long with areas of short and long setae, and are marked with a pattern of dark marking ranging from spots on the profemur to stripes on the mesotibia. The metatibia sports two rows of ten to twelve spines, four subapical spurs, and three apical spurs. The middle apical spur is notably longer than the other two spurs. Both cerci the joint of one hind leg and 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 ...

are incomplete, having been removed during shaping and polishing of the amber specimen. Cladistic analysis places ''Araneagryllus'' within a clade composed of '' Arachnopsita'', '' Leptopedetes'', '' Longuripes'', '' Mayagryllus'', '' Nemoricantor'', and '' Prolonguripes''. All seven genera, among other characters, possessing an elongated middle apical spur.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4784074

† A dagger, obelisk, or obelus is a typographical mark that usually indicates a footnote if an asterisk has already been used. The symbol is also used to indicate death (of people) or extinction (of species). It is one of the modern descendan ...

Prehistoric insect genera

Burdigalian life Neogene Dominican Republic Miocene insects of North America Prehistoric insects of the Caribbean

Fossils of the Dominican Republic Dominican amber Fossil taxa described in 2010 Taxa named by Sam W. Heads