Aetheogramma speciosum

The generic name Aetheogramma was compiled on the basis of two words of Greek origin: aethes - “unusual” and gramma - “picture”. The species name is based on lat. speciosus is "beautiful." The description was made by Chinese paleontologist Dong Ren (Department of Biology, Capital Normal University, Beijing ) and American entomologist Michael S. Engel ; Division of Entomology & Paleoentomology, Natural History Museum, and Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, Lawrence , Kansas , USA ) ^[2] .

Found in Mesozoic sediments in northeast China (Yixian Formation, Liaoning Province): Lower Cretaceous (MSE) or Upper Jurassic (DR). The holotype (LB20010-1) was found 28 km southeast of Beipiao , Huangbanjiegou Village, near Shangyuan Township , China ) ^[2] .

Relatively large insects, wingspan about 9 cm. Wings are oval, with rounded peaks, without spots, but with wide stripes from the costal to the posterior margin. Transverse veins numerous over the entire surface of the wing. There is no pterostigm. The third anal vein is absent, 2A is simple, 3A is presumably with two simple branches, 1A, CuA and CuP are dichotomously branched. Fore wing length 45 mm, width 21 mm; the hind wing is slightly wider than the front and with a more rounded edge, its length is 44 mm, its width is 27 mm ^[2] .

Aetheogramma speciosum and Aetheogrammatidae are most similar in structure to another fossil family of large insects - calligrammatids , also known from the Mesozoic era of Asia ^{[2] [3]} . In 2011, another genus was described ( Ectopogramma Engel et al. , 2011 ) in the family of etheogrammatids and the original species name of this species A. speciosa was corrected to the correct spelling version of A. speciosum , and in 2015, a second species in the genus, Aetheogramma bistriatum , was described Yang et al. 2015 .

• Ren D., Guo ZG., Lu LW., Ji SA., Tan F., Jing YG., Fang XS., And Ji Q. A further contribution to the knowledge of the Upper Jurassic Yixian Formation in western Liaoning. (Chinese) // Geological Review. - 1997. - 第 43 卷 , 第 5 数 . - 第 449–459 页 .
• Grimaldi D. , and Engel MS Evolution of the Insects. - Cambridge, UK .: Cambridge University Press, 2005 .-- xv + 755 s.
• Ren D., Lu L., Guo Z., and Ji S. Faunae and Stratigraphy of Jurassic-Cretaceous in Beijing and the Adjacent Areas. - Beijing, China: Seismic Publishing House, 1995 .-- 222 p.