Aneuretopsychidae is an extinct family of scorpionflies known from the

Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era is the Era (geology), era of Earth's Geologic time scale, geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous Period (geology), Periods. It is characterized by the dominance of archosaurian r ...

. Fossils are known from the Jurassic ( Callovian- Oxfordian) to the early Late Cretaceous (

Cenomanian The Cenomanian is, in the International Commission on Stratigraphy's (ICS) geological timescale, the oldest or earliest age (geology), age of the Late Cretaceous epoch (geology), Epoch or the lowest stage (stratigraphy), stage of the Upper Cretace ...

). It is part of Mesopsychoidea, a group of scorpionflies with

siphon A siphon (; also spelled syphon) is any of a wide variety of devices that involve the flow of liquids through tubes. In a narrower sense, the word refers particularly to a tube in an inverted "U" shape, which causes a liquid to flow upward, abo ...

ate

proboscis A proboscis () is an elongated appendage from the head of an animal, either a vertebrate or an invertebrate. In invertebrates, the term usually refers to tubular arthropod mouthparts, mouthparts used for feeding and sucking. In vertebrates, a pr ...

. They are suggested to have been nectarivores, feeding off the liquid pollination drops of and acting as pollinators for now extinct insect pollinated

gymnosperms The gymnosperms ( ; ) are a group of woody, perennial Seed plant, seed-producing plants, typically lacking the protective outer covering which surrounds the seeds in flowering plants, that include Pinophyta, conifers, cycads, Ginkgo, and gnetoph ...

such as Bennettitales.

Systematics

Diagnostic characters include the "presence of pseudo-loop in the anal area of the forewing, and the well-developed jugum of the hind wing" It has been proposed that the family are the

sister group In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and ...

to fleas, however a detailed analysis of the mouthparts of well preserved amber specimens found that they were homologous to those found in the Pseudopolycentropodidae and dissimilar to those of fleas. *'' Aneuretopsyche'' Rasnitsyn and Kozlov 1990 **''A. minima'' Rasnitsyn and Kozlov 1990 Karabastau Formation, Kazakhstan, Callovian/Oxfordian **''A. rostrata'' Rasnitsyn and Kozlov 1990 Karabastau Formation, Kazakhstan, Callovian/Oxfordian **''A. vitimensis'' Rasnitsyn and Kozlov 1990

Zaza Formation The Zaza Formation is a geological formation located in Buryatia (Russia). It dates to the Lower Cretaceous. The age of the formation is disputed, and is considered likely to be Valanginian-Hauterivian, or Aptian in age. It comprises sandstones, ...

, Russia,

Aptian The Aptian is an age (geology), age in the geologic timescale or a stage (stratigraphy), stage in the stratigraphic column. It is a subdivision of the Early Cretaceous, Early or Lower Cretaceous epoch (geology), Epoch or series (stratigraphy), S ...

*'' Burmopsyche'' Zhao et al. 2020 **''B. bella'' Zhao et al. 2020

Burmese amber Burmese amber, also known as Burmite or Kachin amber, is amber from the Hukawng Valley in northern Myanmar. The amber is dated to around 100 million years ago, during the latest Albian to earliest Cenomanian ages of the mid-Cretaceous period. Th ...

, Myanmar, Cenomanian **''B. xiai'' Zhao et al. 2020 Burmese amber, Myanmar, Cenomanian *'' Jeholopsyche'' Ren, Shih and Labandeira, 2009, 2011 **''J. bella'' Qiao et al. 2012

Yixian Formation The Yixian Formation (; formerly Romanization of Chinese, transcribed as Yihsien Formation or Yixiang Formation) is a geological formation in Jinzhou, Liaoning, People's Republic of China, that spans the Barremian stage of the Early Cretaceous. I ...

, China, Aptian **''J. completa'' Qiao et al. 2012 Yixian Formation, China, Aptian **''J. liaoningensis'' Ren, Shih and Labandeira, 2009, 2011 Yixian Formation, China, Aptian **''J. maxima'' Qiao et al. 2012 Yixian Formation, China, Aptian

Gallery

File:Jeholopsyche liaoningensis dorsal.jpg, ''Jeholopsyche liaoningensis'' dorsal File:Jeholopsyche liaoningensis ventral.jpg, ''Jeholopsyche liaoningensis'' ventral, showing proboscis

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q21359752 † Prehistoric insect families Jurassic first appearances