A new moth lacewing genus (Insecta: Neuroptera: Ithonidae) with proliferated and specialized wing venation from the mid-Cretaceous of northern Myanmar

The neuropteran family Ithonidae is a relict group among extant lacewings, with less species diversity and disjunctive global distribution, but represented by a more diverse palaeofauna since the Late Triassic. However, most fossil ithonids are preserved in compression rocks, while those from amber inclusion are particularly rare. Here we report a new genus and species of Ithonidae, Phyllithone dongshengi gen. et sp. nov., from the mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber of northern Myanmar, representing the second ithonid genus and species from this deposit. The new genus can be assigned to the extinct Principiala genus-group by the specialized MP and CuA in both fore- and hind wings, which is shared by many groups of Myrmeleontoidea as a possibly convergently evolved trait. The new finding highlights the morphological diversity and evolution in early ithonids.