Alienopterus brachyelytrus (lat.) Is a fossil species of small insects from the Alienopteridae family, the only one in the genus Alienopterus . The family is either included in the cockroach squad or allocated to a separate Alienoptera squad, close to the mantis and cockroaches. Found in Burmese amber of the Cretaceous period ( Southeast Asia , Myanmar , age about 99 million years) [1] .
| † Alienopterus brachyelytrus |
| Scientific classification |
|---|
| No rank : | Bilateral symmetrical |
| Subtype : | Tracheo-breathing |
| Infraclass : | Winged insects |
| Squad: | † Alienoptera Bai, Beutel, Klass, Wipfler et Zhang, 2016 |
| Gender: | † Alienopterus Bai, Beutel, Klass, Wipfler et Zhang, 2016 |
| View: | † Alienopterus brachyelytrus |
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| International scientific name |
|---|
Alienopterus brachyelytrus Bai, Beutel, Klass, Wipfler et Zhang, 2016 |
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Content
Medium sized insects, body length 14.5 mm (width 3.2 mm). Antennae long, filiform, multi-segmented. The head is orthogonal, triangular in shape, wider than the pronotum. Large facet eyes and three ocellia are developed. The front wings are shortened, modified into pseudo-wings, partially cover the developed hind wings. Some unusual features, such as a shortened front wings, combined with normally developed functioning hind wings, are similar to those of the earwigs ( Dermaptera ), and specialized large arolium (suckers on the legs) of the front legs, front hips with a brush of spines for catching or holding prey (presumably aphids or ticks), and their general appearance are similar to mantophasmatid ( Mantophasmatodea ). The structure of the genitals and phylogenetic analysis showed that Alienoptera is a sister group to the order Mantis ( Mantodea ) [1] . It was first described in 2016 by Chinese and German entomologists from scientific institutions in Beijing , Jena and Dresden using the only male from Burmese amber ( Myanmar ). The name Alienopterus comes from two words: lat. alienus ("different", "unusual") and Greek. πτερόν (“wing”) [1] . Alienoptera became the fourth new insect detachment established in the 21st century after Mantophasmatodea in 2002 (they were later reduced to suborder level), the Nakridletia detachment in 2010 and the Coxoplectoptera in 2011 [2] . Nevertheless, some researchers consider these insects not as a separate detachment, but as the Alienopteridae family in the cockroach detachment (Blattoidea). In particular, Mirmekomorph Grant viridifluvius from the Eocene of North America, which may be considered the latest find of this group, was assigned to this family [3] . In 2018, two more close representatives were described: Caputoraptor elegans and Alienopterella stigmatica [4] [5] .
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