Corresponding author: Jan-Michael Ilger (
Academic editor: D. Shcherbakov
With
Hagen-Vorhalle is one of the most important Konservat-Lagerstätten of the early Late Carboniferous (Early Pennsylvanian) and has provided remarkable data of supra-regional importance about the evolution of the most ancient Pterygota.
An extraordinary insect fauna was discovered in 1982 and reported in a brief article by
The systematic position of the
The specimen WMf.N P.21299 is stored in the Hagen-Vorhalle collection of the LWL-Museum für Naturkunde, Westfälisches Landesmuseum mit Planetarium in Münster. It was recovered in an excavation campaign in 1990–1991.
Investigations were done using a Euromex® ZT-45 zoom trinocular with an attached camera tube. Objects were illuminated with a Euromex® EK-1 cold light lamp with polarizing filters to minimize reflections on clay minerals and mica surfaces. Imaging conditions for photo documentation were optimized by varying illumination levels and angles with polarized and non-polarized light. Photographs were taken by using a Canon PowerShot A470 digital point-and-shoot camera with Super Macro function. Digital images were edited using the computer programs IMAGEJ, COREL PHOTO-PAINT and GIMP.
The nomenclature of wing venation follows
Wing small and well rounded, with the following venation pattern: (i) strong cross-vein between MP– and CuA+ in basal part of wing (arculus), (ii) pronounced convex fold between MP– and CuA+ (cubito-median fold), (iii) CuP– strongly convex, with 3 terminal branches, (iv) a number of straight cross-veins between main veins.
Very small (length <10 mm) and compact wing with well rounded apex. The venation pattern shows a combination of the following unique characters: (i) RP– branches far before reaching the mid-wing, (ii) well pronounced cubito-median fold, (iii) CuP1– very strongly convex, (iv) posterior branches of MP– and CuA+ curved backwards (strongly convex), (v) no archedictyon but a number of cross-veins mainly in distal half of the wing.
Despite the small size of the wing the regular shape precludes that it is a nymphal wing as it shows no kind of a typical strong backward flexion.
The genus name is a combination of the Russian “baryshnya“ for young, unmarried woman and Latin “ala” for wing; gender feminine.
Specimen no. WMf.N P.212999, left metathoracic wing, with slightly damaged apex and lacking wing base. Stored in the collection of the LWL-Museum für Naturkunde, Westfälisches Landesmuseum mit Planetarium in Münster (Germany).
Former brickyard quarry near Hagen-Vorhalle, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany (topographic map 1 : 25,000 sheet no. 4610 Hagen/Westfalen;
Early Late Carboniferous (Early Pennsylvanian): early Bashkirian, late Namurian B, late Marsdenian, ammonoid zone R2c, Ziegelschiefer Formation.
As for the genus (due to the temporarily monospecific status). Length ≥9.6 mm.
The isolated wing is quite well preserved, though it lacks the proximal tenth with articulation and most of the anal area. Apical wing margin is also slightly damaged. The corrugation is easily discernible but flattened by diagenetic compression. The anterior midwing is slightly damaged by preparation marks which obscure the exact reconstruction of terminal ScP– and RA+ branches—especially whether they do or do not fuse.
Also visible in the apical area (
Preserved length: 8.7 mm; estimated length: ≥9.6 mm; maximum width (at most posterior branch of MP–): 4.2 mm. Approximated ratio length/width: ~2.3.
There is only one isolated wing known. Due to its shape and the existence of a cubito-median fold we suppose it is a metathoracic wing (
Latin occultus, -a, -um (adjective) meaning arcane. The holotype specimen was stored for twenty years in the collection without being identified as a new species.
Further small Late Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian) basal
Worldwide there are known many other small
The probably earliest evidence for holometabolous insects is a metathoracic wing of
Both species,
Therefore we conclude that
The previously known species of
Very small species and specimens are always in danger of being overlooked during their excavation and subsequent scientific handling.
Similarities in the venation pattern and the occurrence of a well developed cubito-median fold indicate a systematic position distantly related to the family
This paper is dedicated to Alexandr P. Rasnitsyn for his diligent and all-embracing contributions to the study of fossil insects. The authors thank Elke Gröning (Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany), Klaus-Dieter Klass (Dresden, Germany) and especially Jakub Prokop (Prague, Czech Republic) for supportive remarks and literature. We also thank Roy J. Beckemeyer (Wichita, USA) for linguistic corrections in a first draft and helpful suggestions. Dmitry Shcherbakov (Moscow, Russia) is thanked for his constructive comments and Russian language support. The comparative material from Hagen-Vorhalle was provided by Alfred Hendricks and Lothar Schöllmann from the LWL-Museum (Münster, Germany). We are also grateful to Wolfgang Sippel (Ennepetal, Germany) for his strong engagement in Vorhalle matters. We gratefully acknowledge the financial support by the DFG (“Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft”) project BR 1253/41. The referees are thanked for their constructive reviews.