New palaeodictyopterid insects from the Pennsylvanian of Piesberg reveal spectacular disparity in the patterns of the wing venation (Megasecoptera, Palaeodictyoptera)

ABSTRACT

At the famous Moscovian locality of Piesberg quarry near Osnabrück (Lower Saxony, Germany) there is rich abundance of Palaeodictyopterida comprising not only adults but also larval stages and their exuviae. The representatives of three palaeodictyopterid orders, eight families and 13 species were previously identified from this locality. In this study, we describe a new megascopteran Piesbergptera niesseae gen. nov. et sp. nov. (Piesbergpteridae fam. nov.) with some venation traits shared with Foririidae and Ischnoptilidae, both of which are known from Commentry, and new palaeodictyopterans Osnabrugapteron rasnitsyni gen. nov. et sp. nov. (Archaemegaptilidae), Spilaptera peckae sp. nov. (Spilapteridae) and Saxonyptilus sowiaki gen. nov. et sp. nov. (Spilapteridae), the latter providing the first evidence of nygmata among spilapterids. Based on the evaluation of forewing venation, we propose the restoration of the genus Dictyoneurella as a member of the palaeodictyopteran family Archaemegaptilidae.

KEYWORDS:

• Insecta
• Palaeodictyopterida
• Archaemegaptilidae
• Spilapteridae
• wing venation
• Carboniferous
• Subvariscan Foreland Basin

Acknowledgments

We cordially thank Michael Sowiak (Glandorf, Germany) for his fieldwork at Piesberg and willingness to provide access to specimens for scientific evaluation. We also thank the GP Papenburg Company for their permission and technical support for palaeontological field work in their quarry. K.R. gratefully acknowledges the support of her research by the project “Grant Schemes at CU” (reg. no. CZ.02.2.69/0.0/0.0/19_073/0016935), and JP & MP were supported by the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic (No. 18-03118S).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic [18-03118S]; Grant Schemes at Charles University [CZ.02.2.69/0.0/0.0/19_073/0016935].