A New Thorny Lacewing (Neuroptera: Rhachiberothidae) from Canadian Cretaceous Amber

摘要

Albertoberotha leuckorum McKellar and Engel, a new genus and species of the neuropteran family Rhachiberothidae is described from Upper Cretaceous (Campanian) amber from the Grassy Lake locality in Alberta, Canada. Rhachiberothidae today consist of 13 species from sub-saharan Africa; but 12 species in amber throughout the Northern Hemisphere indicate that the family was global at least 125-45 mya. Despite the extent of existing studies pertaining to amber-entombed neuropterans, only members of the Berothidae and Chrysopidae have been conclusively reported from Canadian amber to date. We describe the first representative of the Rhachiberothidae to be observed in Campanian amber and draw comparisons with genera in other Cretaceous deposits.