Megasecoptera Brongniart, 1885 Megasecoptera

Order Megasecoptera Brongniart, 1885 Megasecoptera View in CoL indet.

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Material.—MNHN.F.A.95114, distal half of a wing; from coal slag heap N°7,Avion, Pas-de-Calais, France; Moscovian, (Westphalian C/D equivalent to Bolsovian/Asturian), Middle Pennsylvanian, Carboniferous.

Description.—Length of fragment 6.9 mm, probable wing length ca. 14.0 mm; concave ScP ending on costa close to wing apex, 1.4 mm apart; costal area very narrow, without visible crossvein; area between R/RA and ScP 0.4 mm wide, with a series of straight crossveins; convex RA weakly curved, ending near wing apex; base of concave RP 6.0 mm from wing apex; RP posteriorly pectinate, with four simple branches and few crossveins in-between; M fork slightly basad base of RP, convex MA simple, curved, strongly approximating RP but not touching it; Concave MP also curved and simple; apex of convex CuA visible.

Remarks.—The pronounced corrugation of the main longitudinal veins, the vein ScP nearly reaching the wing apex, veins ScP and R very close together and usually close to costal margin; the presence of few simple and straight crossveins between the main veins, the vein M simply forked, the veins RP and M strongly approximating near their bases but without any crossveins in-between at this level support an attribution to the Megasecoptera ( Santos et al. 2023). The Palaeodictyoptera have much more crossveins and branches of M. The Diaphanopterodea have a distinct crossvein between RP and MA near base of RP, a shorter ScP, and generally much more branches of RP. This fossil is remarkable in its small size (probable wing length ca. 14.0 mm). Its main interest is that it is the first record of the Megasecoptera from the Moscovian of Avion. Therefore, its incomplete state of preservation prevents us to attribute it to a precise family nor to formally name it.

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