The Coleorrhyncha (Insecta: Hemiptera) of the European Jurassic, with a description of a new genus from the Toarcian of Luxembourg

Abstract

The fossil record of the Coleorrhyncha goes back to the Upper Permian. In recent faunas only members of the Peloridiidae are present, restricted in distribution to the Southern Hemisphere. These insects were more diversified in the past, and though their fossil record in the Jurassic is restricted to the Northern Hemisphere, it comprises the families Progonocimicidae and Karabasiidae. The subfamily ­Progonocimicinae, present in the Jurassic strata of Europe and Asia is a declining lineage. The subfamily Cicadocorinae originated at the Triassic/Jurassic boundary and became dominant during Jurassic times. A review of Coleorrhyncha from European fossil sites is given, with taxonomic and phylogenetic problems highlighted. Their occurrence is linked to a very humid and warm climate, which is in agreement with independent data indicating greenhouse conditions in the atmospheric system and anoxia in the oceans at that time (Toarcian-Oceanic Anoxic Event – T-OAE) and coeval greenhouse climate on land. A new genus and species of the Progonocimicinae – Indutiono­marus treveriorum gen. et sp. nov. is described, based on a specimen from the Lower Toarcian of Bascharage, Luxembourg, Western Europe. It is the first record of the Coleorrhyncha from this locality. The morphological features of the new genus in respect to other ­Progonocimicidae, and its phylogenetic importance, are discussed. Mesoscytina anglica Yu. Popov, Dolling et Whalley, 1994 is transferred to the genus Mesocimex, resulting in Mesocimex anglicus (Yu. Popov, Dolling et Whalley, 1994) comb. nov.