''Proraphidia'' is a genus of snakefly in the extinct family

Mesoraphidiidae Mesoraphidiidae is an extinct family (biology), family of snakeflies in the suborder Raphidiomorpha. The family lived from the Late Jurassic through the Late Cretaceous and is known from twenty-five genera. Mesoraphidiids have been found as both ...

. The genus currently contains three species; ''Proraphidia gomezi'' from the

La Pedrera de Rúbies Formation The La Pedrera de Rúbies Formation is an Early Cretaceous ( late Berriasian to early Barremian geologic formation in Catalonia, Spain. The formation crops out in the area of the Montsec in the Organyà Basin. At the La Pedrera de Meià localit ...

in Spain, ''Proraphidia hopkinsi'' from the

Weald Clay Weald Clay or the Weald Clay Formation is a Lower Cretaceous sedimentary rock unit underlying areas of South East England, between the North and South Downs, in an area called the Weald Basin. It is the uppermost unit of the Wealden Group of ro ...

in England, and the type species ''Proraphidia turkestanica'' from Kazakhstan. The genus was first described by O. M. Martynova in 1941 with the publication of ''P. turkestanica'' from Jurassic deposits of the Karabastau Formation in Karatau, Kazakhstan. All species in the genus are noted for the small size of the

pterostigma The pterostigma (plural: pterostigmata) is a group of specialized cells in the outer insect wing, wings of insects, which are often thickened or coloured, and thus stand out from other cells. It is particularly noticeable in dragonfly, dragonfli ...

when compared to other raphidiopteran species. ''P. hopkinsi'' and ''P. gomezi'' were described by James E. Jepson and Edmund A. Jarzembowski in a 2008 paper published in the journal '' Alavesia''. ''P. hopkinsi'' is known from a fossil found in deposits of the Lower Weald Clay at the Clockhouse Brickworks in Surrey, England. The deposits date to the Late Hauterivian stage of the Lower Cretaceous. The ''P. hopkinsi'' holotype is described from a single forewing that is long preserved in a section of siltstone concretion also containing Blattodea,

Hemiptera Hemiptera (; ) is an order (biology), order of insects, commonly called true bugs, comprising over 80,000 species within groups such as the cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, Reduviidae, assassin bugs, Cimex, bed bugs, and shield bugs. ...

, Mecoptera, and

Diptera Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced ...

specimens. The wing is narrower than ''P. turkestanica'', with three crossveins between the R and Sc veins, and the second branch of the CuA forked. The type specimen is housed in the Booth Museum of Natural History at

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

, England, as specimen number "BMB 014915, - 8". ''P. hopkinsi'' was named in honor of Dick Hopkins, a long-time volunteer of the Booth Museum. The holotype of ''Proraphidia gomezi'' is a partial body with overlapping fore and hind wings preserved in Early Barremian-age limestone from deposits at Pedrera de Meià in Rúbies, Spain. The forewings are long while the hindwings are notably shorter than ''P. turkestanica'' and have fewer veinlets in the coastal region. Named for Mr Gómez-Pallerola, a fossil collector and contributor to the Institut d'Estudis Ilerdencs in

Lleida Lleida (, ; Spanish: Lérida ) is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital city of the province of Lleida. Geographically, it is located in the Catalan Central Depression. It is also the capital city of the Segrià comarca, as ...

, Catalonia (Spain) where the holotype of ''P. gomezi'', specimen number "L. 29" is housed. A fourth species, from the Upper Jurassic/Lower Cretaceous sediments at Baisa, Buryatia, Russia, was previously placed in ''Proraphidia'' by Dr. Martynova in 1961 as ''Proraphidia vitimica''. However the species was subsequently moved to '' Alloraphidia'' in 1993 by Dr. Alexandr G. Ponomarenko. The species was then placed in its current genus '' Pararaphidia'' as ''Pararaphidia vitimica'' by Dr. Michael Engel in 2002.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7250483 Raphidioptera Late Jurassic insects Cretaceous insects Fossil taxa described in 1941 Prehistoric insects of Asia