The first hangingfly from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber (Mecoptera: Bittacidae)

The Bittacidae (hangingflies) were abundant and widespread during the Mesozoic, but much of their diversity falls within the Jurassic whereas in the Cretaceous they are less common. A new bittacid, Burmobittacus jarzembowskii gen. et. sp. nov., is described from mid-Cretaceous amber from northern Myanmar. This new find is the first bittacid from Burmese amber and also the first Mesozoic bittacid preserved in amber. The new genus is distinguished from all known bittacids in having a long and narrow wing with Rs arising from R and forking very early (in the basal one-fourth of the wing), resulting in the stem of Rs being very short (about 1/8th of the length of Rs1+2), and stems of the main branches of Rs (Rs1+2 and Rs3+4) being unusually long.