New antlions (Insecta: Neuroptera: Myrmeleontidae) from the mid-Cretaceous of Myanmar and their phylogenetic implications

Myrmeleontidae (antlions) is the most species-rich family of the holometabolous order Neuroptera. Evolutionary history of this diverse lacewing family remains largely unexplored. Here we report on three new genera and four new species of antlions from the mid-Cretaceous amber of Myanmar, namely Allopteroneura burmana Lu, Zhang & Liu gen. et sp. nov., Phylloleon elegans Lu, Wang & Liu gen. et sp. nov., Phylloleon stangei Lu, Ohl & Liu gen. et sp. nov. and Nanoleon wangae Hu, Lu & Liu gen. et sp. nov. A phylogenetic analysis of the Burmese amber antlions is performed based on morphological characters. The result shows that the antlion species presently described belong to different major clades across the phylogenetic tree, suggesting a diverse palaeofauna of this family from the mid-Cretaceous of Myanmar. The phylogenetic status of the extinct subfamily Araripeneurinae is also discussed.http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:90D26B8B-1A59-465B-A530-0C0662D85E72