<i>Talaya batraba</i> gen. et sp. nov. – the First Nymph of a Protopsyllidiid (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha: Psyllomorpha) from the Lower Cretaceous Amber of Lebanon

Abstract

Abstract A hemipteran nymph of the sternorrhynchan lineage, placed in the family Protopsyllidiidae is the first found in the fossil record, based on an inclusion in amber from the Lower Cretaceous of Hammana / Mdeyrij, Abeih Formation, Central Lebanon. Based on distinctive features such as a median dorsal elevation and the presence of a large, conical, exposed, setiferous anal tube, the fossil is placed in Talaya batraba gen. et sp. nov. and the newly erected taxon is compared to known nymphs of extinct Protopsyllidiidae. The evolutionary traits of the family and its relatives are considered.