''Elektrithone'' 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 of
lacewing
The insect order Neuroptera, or net-winged insects, includes the lacewings, mantidflies, antlions, and their relatives. The order consists of some 6,000 species. Neuroptera can be grouped together with the Megaloptera and Raphidioptera in t ...
in the moth lacewings family
Ithonidae
Ithonidae, commonly called moth lacewings and giant lacewings, is a small family of winged insects of the insect order Neuroptera. The family contains a total of ten living genera, and over a dozen extinct genera described from fossils. The mod ...
. The genus is solely known from an
Eocene fossil forewing found in
Europe. At the times of description the genus was composed of a single species, ''Elektrithone expectata''.
History and classification
''Elektrithone expectata'' is known only from the one fossil, the
holotype, specimen number SMF Be 2374, which is housed in the collections of the
Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseum in
Frankfurt, Germany. The specimen is preserved as an
inclusion in a transparent chunk of 46 million year old
Baltic amber which was deposited during the
Lutetian stage of the
Middle Eocene. There is debate on what plant family produced the amber, with evidence supporting relatives of either an ''
Agathis
''Agathis'', commonly known as kauri or dammara, is a genus of 22 species of evergreen tree. The genus is part of the ancient conifer family Araucariaceae, a group once widespread during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, but now largely re ...
'' relative or a ''
Pseudolarix'' relative.
The fossil was first studied by the paleoentomologists Vladimir N. Makarkin of the
, Sonja Wedmann of the
Senckenberg Forschungsstation, and Thomas Weiterschan of
Höchst im Odenwald
Höchst im Odenwald (officially ''Höchst i. Odw.'') is a municipality in the Odenwaldkreis (district) in Hesse, Germany.
Geography
Location
Höchst lies 25 km east of Darmstadt, in the northern Odenwald at elevations between 175 and 400&n ...
,
Germany. Their 2014
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 online journal ''
Zootaxa''. The genus name ''Elektrithone'' was coined by the researchers as a combination of the moth lacewing genus ''
Ithone'' and the
Greek word ''elektro'' meaning "amber", which is in reference to the finding of the genus in Baltic amber.
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 ...
''expectata'' is from the
Latin word meaning "expected", alluding to the anticipated find of the family in Baltic amber. ''Elektrithone'' is the first member of Ithonidae to be discovered in Baltic amber.
Using the
Comstock–Needham system for describing
insect venation patterns, the ''Elektrithone'' CuP (cubitus posterior, the "rear elbow") venation is similar to members of the
neuroptera
The insect order Neuroptera, or net-winged insects, includes the lacewings, mantidflies, antlions, and their relatives. The order consists of some 6,000 species. Neuroptera can be grouped together with the Megaloptera and Raphidioptera in th ...
n families
Brongniartiellidae and
Osmylopsychopidae, in that the CuP in both families is short and not comb like. However, both families have wings with an anal area that has at least one or two highly branched anal veins, a character that is not seen in ''Elektrithone''.
The broad costal area of ''Elektrithone'' along with the strongly curved humeral veinlet, comb like MP (medial posterior) and CuA (cubitus anterior) veins and the series structure of the radial crossveins are all features seen in Ithonidae. The features found in ''Elektrithone'' are a mosaic of characters found in several genera of Ithonids.
Description
The holotype is composed of a single partially complete forewing which is missing a section of the central wing area. The preserved section of the forewing is approximately long and wide, with an estimated length, if whole, of . The wing has a costal space that is wide, widening towards the wing base and a number of
trichosors are present along the leading edge of the wing.
The ScA (subcostal anterior) veinlet is well developed, thick, and connecting to the ScP (subcostal posterior) vein before the humeral veinlet. The subcostal veinlets mostly are only shallowly forked, and the radial crossveins being grouped into a pair of gradate series. The wing does not show any evidence that
nygma were present in life.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q18926185
Ithonidae
Lutetian insects
Fossil taxa described in 2014
Prehistoric insects of Europe
Baltic amber