A new family of scorpionflies (Insecta; Mecoptera) from the Lower Cretaceous of England

Seven specimens of fossil scorpionflies (Mecoptera) not assignable to any known family were discovered in the Wealden Supergroup (Lower Cretaceous) of southern England. They were found at Rudgwick Brickworks, West Sussex and Smokejacks Brickworks, Surrey and came from the Upper Weald Clay Formation, dated as Barremian (∼129.4–125 Ma). A new family – Englathaumatidae fam. nov., new genus – Englathauma gen. nov. and two new species E. crabbi sp. nov. and E. mellishae sp. nov. are described. A discussion of systematic position of these new taxa within the order Mecoptera is given. Englathaumatidae fam. nov. has been a nomen nudum since the year 2002, due to the first author's untimely death

Phylogenetic relationships within the relict family Eomeropidae (Insecta, Mecoptera) based on the oldest fossil from the Early Jurassic (Sinemurian) of Dorset, southern England

<p>The family Eomeropidae is a peculiar relict family of Mecoptera with a single extant species and, until now, eight known fossil species ranging in age from Middle Jurassic to Palaeogene. The oldest representative of the family, <i>Jurachorista bashkuevi</i> gen. et sp. nov., was collected from a coastal outcrop in Dorset, southern England, and is described herein. It extends the fossil record of Eomeropidae back to the Sinemurian (Early Jurassic; <i>c</i>. 196 Ma) and sheds new light on the phylogenetic relationships and past distribution of the family. Analysis of the wing venation of all known Eomeropidae indicates that <i>Notiothauma reedi</i>, the only living representative, is characterized by the most polymerized wings, while the oldest species, the newly described <i>Jurachorista bashkuevi</i>, has the most reduced venation within the family. Phylogenetic analysis based on wing venation produces a tree with two clades, illustrating the different taxonomic lines within the family.</p> <p><a href="http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:9CFA9133-6B64-4BF1-954C-C6A52D17F125" target="_blank">http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:9CFA9133-6B64-4BF1-954C-C6A52D17F125</a></p

Evolution of sexual conflict in scorpionflies

Sexual conflict – opposite reproductive/genetic interests between sexes – can be a significant driver of insect evolution. Scorpionflies (Insecta: Mecoptera) are models in sexual conflict research due to their large variety of mating practices, including coercive behaviour and nuptial gift provisioning. However, the role of palaeontology in sexual conflict studies remains negligible, namely due to the paucity of well-preserved fossils. Here, we describe three male scorpionflies from Cretaceous and Eocene ambers. The structure of notal and postnotal organs is analysed in extant and extinct forms; a depression below the base of the notal organ in different panorpid species spatially matches the anterior fold of the female’s wing. Based on disparate abdominal configurations and correlations in extant relatives, we posit that each new fossil taxon had a different mating approach along a nuptial gifting-coercive spectrum. The Eocene specimen possesses extreme female clamping abdominal armature, suggesting a degree of sexual coercion greater than in any other known scorpionfly, extinct or extant. The fossil record of abdominal modifications in male scorpionflies documents a relatively late evolution (Eocene) of long notal organs indicating oppressive behaviour toward a female during mating. Our findings reveal a wider array of mating-related morphological specialisations among extinct Panorpoidea, likely reflecting more diversified past mating strategies and behaviours in this group, and represent first steps towards gaining a deep-time perspective on the evolution of sexual conflict over mating among insects