Luo Cihang, Wang Bo, Jarzembowski Edmund A
State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology and Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 39 East Beijing Road, Nanjing 210008, China.
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
Insects. 2021 Apr 2;12(4):318. doi: 10.3390/insects12040318.
The fossil record of adult planthoppers is comparatively rich, but nymphs are rare and not well studied. Here, we describe a bizarre armoured planthopper nymph, gen. et sp. nov., in mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber. The new genus is characterized by its large size, body armed with spines and tubercles, extremely long rostrum reaching well beyond the apex of the abdomen; profemur and mesofemur subcylindrical, covered with setae; protibia and mesotibia subquadrangular, densely covered with setae; protarsus and mesotarsus with two segments, tarsomere II longer and wider than I; metatrochanter swollen, metafemur subcylindrical, covered with short setae; metatibia subquadrangular, densely covered with short setae, without lateral spine and pectens without setae; metatarsus with three segments, and metatarsomere III extremely small. The fossil nymph cannot be attributed to any known planthopper family, but can be excluded from many families due to its large size and leg structure. The armoured body was probably developed for defence, and the extremely long rostrum indicates that, in the past, feeding on trees with thick and rough bark was more widespread than today. These features indicate that the new specimen represents a new armoured morphotype of planthopper nymph from the fossil record.
成虫稻飞虱的化石记录相对丰富，但若虫却很罕见且研究不足。在此，我们描述了一种来自白垩纪中期缅甸琥珀的奇异带甲稻飞虱若虫，新属新种。新属的特征在于其体型巨大，身体布满刺和瘤，超长的喙远远超出腹部顶端；前胸和中胸的股骨近圆柱形，覆盖着刚毛；前胫节和中胫节近四边形，密布刚毛；前跗节和中跗节分两节，跗节II比I更长更宽；后转节肿胀，后股骨近圆柱形，覆盖着短刚毛；后胫节近四边形，密布短刚毛，无侧刺且栉齿无刚毛；后跗节分三节，且后跗节III极小。该化石若虫无法归入任何已知的稻飞虱科，但因其体型巨大和腿部结构可排除许多科。带甲的身体可能是为防御而进化，超长的喙表明过去以树皮厚且粗糙的树木为食比现在更为普遍。这些特征表明新标本代表了化石记录中一种新的带甲稻飞虱若虫形态类型。
