The Earliest Elcanidae (Insecta, Orthoptera) from the Upper Triassic of North America

Yan Fang; A.D. Muscente; Sam W. Heads; Bo Wang; Shuhai Xiao

doi:10.1017/jpa.2018.20

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1 November 2018 The Earliest Elcanidae (Insecta, Orthoptera) from the Upper Triassic of North America

Yan Fang, A.D. Muscente, Sam W. Heads, Bo Wang, Shuhai Xiao

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J. of Paleontology, 92(6):1028-1034 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1017/jpa.2018.20

Abstract

A new genus and species of the Elcanidae (Orthoptera, Elcanoidea), Cascadelcana virginiana n. gen. n. sp., is described based on a forewing specimen from the Upper Triassic (Norian) Cow Branch Formation in the Solite Quarry Lagerstätte near the North Carolina-Virginia boundary, USA. It is distinguished from other elcanid species by its RP +MA1 with six branches, M with two branches before stem MA1 fused with RP, and short CuA almost vertical against the posterior margin. This fossil represents the earliest definitive record of the family Elcanidae and the first orthopteran described from the Triassic of North America. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) analyses show that the veins and a pterostigma-like structure on the wing of C. virginiana n. gen. n. sp. are preserved as carbonaceous compressions. The presence of a pterostigma-like structure in elcanids indicates that they may have evolved a particular flight mechanism distinct from those of other orthopterans.

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Yan Fang, A.D. Muscente, Sam W. Heads, Bo Wang, and Shuhai Xiao "The Earliest Elcanidae (Insecta, Orthoptera) from the Upper Triassic of North America," Journal of Paleontology 92(6), 1028-1034, (1 November 2018). https://doi.org/10.1017/jpa.2018.20

Accepted: 13 March 2018; Published: 1 November 2018

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