''Florissantoraphidia'' is an extinct

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

snakefly Snakeflies are a group of predatory insects comprising the order Raphidioptera with two extant families: Raphidiidae and Inocelliidae, consisting of roughly 260 species. In the past, the group had a much wider distribution than it does now; sn ...

in the family

Raphidiidae ''Raphidiidae'' is a family of snakeflies in the order Raphidioptera. Genera Raphidiidae are divided in 28 genera with about 210 species *'' Africoraphidia'' *'' Agulla'' Navas 1914 *'' Alena'' Navas 1916 *'' Atlantoraphidia'' *'' Calabroraphi ...

containing two described species ''Florissantoraphidia funerata'' and ''Florissantoraphidia mortua''. Both species were originally placed in the living raphidiid genus ''

Raphidia ''Raphidia'' is a genus of snakefly, mainly found in Europe. Species The following are included in ''BioLib.cz'': ;subgenus ''Aserbeidshanoraphidia'' Aspöck & Aspöck, 1968 * '' Raphidia nuchensis'' H. Aspöck et al., 1968 ;subgenus ''Nigroraph ...

'', as ''Raphidia funerata'' and ''Raphidia mortua'' respectively. before being redescribed and transferred to the newly erected genus in 2014.

Range

Both ''Florissantoraphidia funerata'' and ''F. mortua'' are only known from the

Florissant Formation The Florissant Formation is a sedimentary geologic formation outcropping around Florissant, Teller County, Colorado. The formation is noted for the abundant and exceptionally preserved insect and plant fossils that are found in the mudstones and ...

, which has produced a series of other snakefly species in three different families. The extinct family Baissopteridae is represented by the species '' Dictyoraphidia veterana'', while Raphidiidae is present as species of the extinct genera '' Archiraphidia'' and '' Megaraphidia'', and

Inocelliidae Inocelliidae is a small family of snakeflies containing 8 genera of which one is known only from fossils. They are commonly known as inocelliid snakeflies. The largest known species is '' Fibla carpenteri'' known from fossils found in baltic amb ...

is represented by ''

Fibla exusta ''Fibla'' is a genus of snakeflies belonging to the family Inocelliidae. The species of this genus are found in Europe and Northern America. Species GBIF lists: *†'' Fibla carpenteri'' *'' Fibla cerdanica'' *''Fibla erigena ''Fibla'' is a ...

''. Out of the described snakefly specimens from the Florissant Formation, the ''F. funerata'' holotype is the most complete.

Description

''Florissantoraphidia funerata''

Preserved as a

compression fossil A compression fossil is a fossil preserved in sedimentary rock that has undergone physical compression. While it is uncommon to find animals preserved as good compression fossils, it is very common to find plants preserved this way. The reason f ...

, the ''F. funerata'' female individual is fossilized in a resting position giving a side view to the body and wings. Including the

ovipositor The ovipositor is a tube-like organ used by some animals, especially insects, for the laying of eggs. In insects, an ovipositor consists of a maximum of three pairs of appendages. The details and morphology of the ovipositor vary, but typica ...

, ''F. funerata'' is and has a forewing length of . Of the known snakefly species, ''F. funerata'' is closest in appearance to the extinct ''F. mortua''. The two cogeneric species can be separated by several features of the forewing, including a lack of terminal forks in veins along the posterior margin of the wing in ''F. funerata'', and the radial cell bordering the pterostigma narrowing at the base in ''F. mortua''. ''F. funerata'' was originally assigned to the genus ''Raphidia'', but this assignment was made with hesitation by Dr. Engel as the characteristics used to separate living genera, the reproductive structures, are not preserved in most fossils and very rarely in compression fossils. The name ''F. funerata'' is derived from the Latin ''funeratus'' meaning to "bury" or "intern". The species is known from a single female specimen, the

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of seve ...

, deposited in the Department of Palaeontology at the

Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

as specimen number "In. 26922". Though they did not study the specimen, Aspöck, Aspöck and Rausch in the 1991 work ''Die Raphidiopteren der Erde'' noted and figured the specimen as an "unidentified raphidiid".

Engel Engel means "angel" in some Germanic languages. Engel or Die Engel may refer to: People * Engel (surname) * Engel Beltré (born 1989), Dominican baseball player Music * Engel (band), a Swedish industrial/melodic death metal band * "Engel" (s ...

first studied and described the species after finding the specimen in the Department of Palaeontology collections. and published his

type description A species description is a formal description of a newly discovered species, usually in the form of a scientific paper. Its purpose is to give a clear description of a new species of organism and explain how it differs from species that have ...

in the journal ''

Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science ''Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science'' is a biannual peer-reviewed academic journal published by the Kansas Academy of Science. The journal covers biological and physical sciences, mathematics and computer science, history, culture, an ...

'' (Volume 106) in 2003. Engel (2003) considered it possible the Florissant Formation species were members of one of the two

nearctic The Nearctic realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting the Earth's land surface. The Nearctic realm covers most of North America, including Greenland, Central Florida, and the highlands of Mexico. The parts of North America ...

genera '' Alena'' or '' Agulla''. In a 2014 study Vladimir N. Makarkin and S. Bruce Archibald removed the species ''F. mortua'' and ''F. funerata'' from ''Raphidia'', and transferred them to the new genus ''Florissantoraphidia''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7294075 Raphidioptera Fossil taxa described in 2003 Eocene insects Prehistoric insects of North America Taxa named by Michael S. Engel Florissant Formation