''Dicromantispa electromexicana'' is an extinct species of

mantidfly Mantispidae (), commonly known as mantidflies, mantispids, mantid lacewings, mantisflies or mantis-flies, is a family of small to moderate-sized insects in the order Neuroptera. There are many genera with around 400 species worldwide, especially ...

in the

neuroptera The insect order (biology), order Neuroptera, or net-winged insects, includes the lacewings, mantidflies, antlions, and their relatives. The order consists of some 6,000 species. Neuroptera is grouped together with the Megaloptera (alderflies, f ...

n family

Mantispidae Mantispidae (), commonly known as mantidflies, mantispids, mantid lacewings, mantisflies or mantis-flies, is a family of small to moderate-sized insects in the order Neuroptera. There are many genera with around 400 species worldwide, especially ...

known from a fossil found in

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History and classification

''Dicromantispa electromexicana'' was described from a solitary fossil, which is preserved as an

inclusion Inclusion or Include may refer to: Sociology * Social inclusion, action taken to support people of different backgrounds sharing life together. ** Inclusion (disability rights), promotion of people with disabilities sharing various aspects of lif ...

in a transparent chunk of Mexican amber. At the time of description, the amber specimen was housed in the fossil collection of the

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Located in Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 21 interconn ...

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. The

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

fossil is composed of a very complete adult male. Mexican amber is recovered from fossil bearing rocks in the

Simojovel Simojovel is a Municipalities of Chiapas, municipality in the List of states in Mexico, Mexican state of Chiapas in southern Mexico. As of 2010, the municipality had a total population of 40,297, up from 31,615 as of 2005. It covers an area of ...

region of

Chiapas Chiapas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas, is one of the states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. It comprises Municipalities of Chiapas, 124 municipalities and its capital and large ...

, Mexico. The amber dates from between 22.5 million years old, for the youngest sediments of the Balumtun Sandstone, and 26 million years old La Quinta Formation. This age range straddles the boundary between the

Late Oligocene The Chattian is, in the geologic timescale The geologic time scale or geological time scale (GTS) is a representation of time based on the rock record of Earth. It is a system of chronological dating that uses chronostratigraphy (the pro ...

and

Early Miocene The Early Miocene (also known as Lower Miocene) is a sub-epoch of the Miocene epoch (geology), Epoch made up of two faunal stage, stages: the Aquitanian age, Aquitanian and Burdigalian stages. The sub-epoch lasted from 23.03 ± 0.05 annum, Ma to ...

and is complicated by both formations being secondary deposits for the amber, the age range is only the youngest that it might be. The male holotype was first studied by entomologists Michael Engel of the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

and David Grimaldi of the American Museum of Natural History with their 2007

type description A species description is a formal scientific description of a newly encountered species, typically articulated through a scientific publication. Its purpose is to provide a clear description of a new species of organism and explain how it differ ...

of the species was published in the

natural sciences Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...

journal ''

American Museum Novitates ''American Museum Novitates'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by the American Museum of Natural History. It was established in 1921. According to the ''Journal Citation Reports'', the journal has a 2013 impact factor The impact ...

''. The

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

''electromexicana'' was coined from the

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word "electron", meaning ''amber'', combined with Mexico as a reference to the nature of the preservation and the country of the type locality. ''D. electromexicana'' is one of two fossil ''Dicromantispa'' species Engel and Grimaldi described in 2007. The other species, '' D. moronei'', is from the similarly aged

Dominican amber Dominican amber is amber from the Dominican Republic derived from resin of the extinct tree '' Hymenaea protera''. Dominican amber differentiates itself from Baltic amber by being nearly always transparent, and it has a higher number of fossil in ...

of Hispaniola.

Description

The holotype male of ''D. electromexicana'' is nearly complete, only missing portions of the wing tips on two wings. Overall the specimen is approximately long, with forewings and a

pronotum The prothorax is the foremost of the three segments in the thorax of an insect, and bears the first pair of legs. Its principal sclerites (exoskeletal plates) are the pronotum (dorsal), the prosternum (ventral), and the propleuron (lateral) on e ...

. Based on the general appearance of the pronotum, ''D. electromexicana'' is visually similar to the extant North American '' Zeugomantispa minuta''. However, the long and relatively unadorned pronotum of ''D. electromexicana'' in combination with the structural features of the plates surrounding the anus, show the two species to not be related. Between ''D. electromexicana'' and ''D. moronei'' the shorter, wider, pronotum of ''D. moronei'' along with the smaller size and longer profemoral spine of ''D. electromexicana'' separate the two species. The anal plates of ''D. electromexicana'' lack a ventromedian lobe, a feature found in all living members of ''Dicromantispa''. Due to the lack of other anal structure details the species was placed into ''Dicromantispa'' rather than into a new genus.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q20686553 Mantispoidea Eocene insects of North America Prehistoric insects of North America Insects of Mexico Mexican amber Neogene Mexico Fossil taxa described in 2007 Species known from a single specimen