The taxonomic status of Architipula fragmentosa (Bode) and the family Eoasilidae (Diptera) from the Lower Jurassic

The fossil species Architipula fragmentosa (Bode) comb. nov. (Diptera: Nematocera: Limoniidae) from the German Upper Lias (Lower Jurassic) is redescribed. This species was originally described by Bode (1953) in a new monotypic genus as Eoasilidea fragmentosa and placed in the Brachycera, with Eoasilidea as the type-genus of a new family Eoasilidae. This family is here synonymized with the Limoniidae (Nematocera), and the genus Eoasilidea is synonymized with Architipula Handlirsch .     

Tardigrades of the Taimyr peninsula with descriptions of two new species

This is the first report on tardigrades from the Taimyr peninsula. Seventy-one species of tardigrades were recorded, new to Russian fauna and two of which are new to science. Diphascon boreale sp. nov. is closely related to D. brevipes (Marcus, 1936) but easily distinguished from it by claw structure and the absence of cuticular bars on the legs. Isohypsibius roberti sp. nov. belongs to the elegans group of the genus Isohypsibius ; it diners from other species in the group by having a long and thin buccal tube and large lunulae with small teeth on leg IV. The eggs of Ramazzottius montivagus are here described for the first time. The almost complete absence of tardigrades in and around Norilsk is noted. This is related to the heavy industrial pollution from a local nickel-copper plant.     

A new genus of Mantispidae (Insecta: Neuroptera) from the Eocene of Germany, with a review of the fossil record and palaeobiogeography of the family

A new mantispid genus and species Symphrasites eocenicus gen. sp. nov. is described from the Middle Eocene of the Messel Pit fossil site, Germany. It has been placed, with confidence, in the subfamily Symphrasinae, the fossils of which were previously unknown. A review of the known fossil species of Mantispidae is provided, and their systematic placements are discussed. Liassochrysa stigmatica Ansorge & Schlüter, 1990 is assigned to Mantispidae, and therefore Liassochrysidae is a new synonym of Mantispidae; a second, more complete specimen of Mesomantispa sibirica Makarkin, 1997 is described from the Early Cretaceous Baissa locality, Russia; Mantispidiptera Grimaldi, 2000 is excluded from the family; Vectispa Lambkin, 1986 is referred to subfamily Mantispinae; and the assignment of Whalfera Engel, 2004 to Rhachiberothidae is validated. The origin and palaeobiogeography of the mantispids are briefly discussed: the concept of ousted relicts – which assumes that former widely distributed taxa were replaced with groups originating in the tropics – is assumed to best explain the present distribution of the family.  © 2007 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2007, 149 , 701–716.     

A new genus of the family Panfiloviidae (Insecta,Neuroptera) from the Middle Jurassic of China

Abstract: Epipanfilovia oviformis gen. et sp. nov. (Neuroptera: Panfiloviidae) is described from the Middle Jurassic locality of Daohugou (Inner Mongolia, China) based on six specimens. A revised diagnosis of this family is provided. It includes two genera, Panfilovia Makarkin and Epipanfilovia gen. nov.; Osmylogramma Ponomarenko is removed from the family. Panfiloviidae is most closely related to another Jurassic family Grammolingiidae, and both are provisionally assigned to the superfamily Osmyloidea.