Diverse new taxa of the enigmatic family Permotanyderidae (Insecta: Mecoptera), with notes on the phylogeny of Aneuretopsychina (long-proboscid scorpionflies).

Remarkable new finds of Permotanyderidae, an enigmatic "Diptera-like" mecopteran family hitherto known only from the Upper Permian of Australia, are described from the Upper Permian and transitional Permian-Triassic beds in Russia (northern European Russia, southern Urals, and the Tunguska and Kuznetsk Basins). The new taxa are Permotanyderus sibiricus sp. nov., P. sensibilis sp. nov., P. rakitovi sp. nov., Rudimentanus rieki gen. et sp. nov., R. cisuralicus sp. nov., Permotanyderites pseudopolycentropoides gen. et sp. nov., Chimaeropteron antiquum gen. et sp. nov. and Ch. agmatos sp. nov. The most archaic genus, Chimaeropteron gen. nov., is assigned to the new subfamily Chimaeropterinae. Choristotanyderus nanus Riek, 1953 is transferred to Permotanyderus Riek, 1953. The distinct suctorial mouthparts revealed in P. nanus and the analysis of wing characters provide evidence for the affinity of Permotanyderidae with the long-proboscid families Nedubroviidae and Pseudopolycentropodidae.

Mouthpart homologies and life habits of Mesozoic long-proboscid scorpionflies.

Mesozoic long-proboscid scorpionflies (Mesopsychoidea) provide important clues to ancient plant-pollinator interactions. Among them, the family Aneuretopsychidae is especially important because its mouthparts are vital to deciphering the early evolution of Mesopsychoidea and putatively the origin of fleas (Siphonaptera). However, the identification of mouthpart homologs among Aneuretopsychidae remains controversial because of the lack of three-dimensional anatomical data. Here, we report the first Aneuretopsychidae from Late Cretaceous Burmese amber, which have short maxillary palpi and elongate mouthpart elements consisting of one pair of galeae and one hypopharynx. Their mouthparts are identical to those of Pseudopolycentropodidae (= Dualulidae, new synonym) but are not homologous to those of Siphonaptera. Our phylogenetic analysis provides robust evidence for the debated monophyly of Mesopsychoidea. Our results suggest that the long-proboscid condition has most likely evolved once in Mesopsychoidea, independently from fleas, and further reveal the variety and complexity of mid-Cretaceous pollinating insects.