Araneagryllus Temporal range:
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A. dylani holotype female | |
Scientific classification
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Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Orthoptera |
Suborder: | Ensifera |
Family: | Phalangopsidae |
Genus: | †
Araneagryllus Heads, 2010 |
Species: | †A. dylani
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Binomial name | |
†Araneagryllus dylani
Heads, 2010
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Araneagryllus is an extinct monotypic genus of cricket in the subfamily Phalangopsinae with the sole species Araneagryllus dylani. [1] The fossil was recovered in the Dominican Republic from early Miocene Burdigalian stage Dominican amber deposits on the island of Hispaniola. [1] [2] Araneagryllus is the first Phalangopsinae cricket to be described from the fossil record. [1]
The genus is known from a single 12.11 millimetres (0.477 in) long female specimen, the holotype, currently deposited in the collections of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, as number "DR-12-32", and which was first studied by Dr. Sam W. Heads. [1] Dr. Heads published his 2010 type description in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society volume number 158. [1] The genus name is a combination of the Latin aranea meaning "spider" and gryllus, meaning "cricket" in reference to the common name given the subfamily where Araneagryllus is placed. [1] The species name is in honor of Dylan L. Heads, son of Dr. Heads. [1] The female has a notable development of a white "emulsion" developed around the mouth parts and on the abdomen. [1]
Araneagryllus dylani possesses a wide shield-like, pronotum which has irregularly spaced setae and prominent ridges along the center and margins. [1] The legs are long with areas of short and long setae, and are marked with a pattern of dark marking ranging from spots on the profemur to stripes on the mesotibia. [1] The metatibia sports two rows of ten to twelve spines, four subapical spurs, and three apical spurs. The middle apical spur is notably longer than the other two spurs. [1] Both cerci the joint of one hind leg and the ovipositor are incomplete, having been removed during shaping and polishing of the amber specimen. [1] Cladistic analysis places Araneagryllus within a clade composed of Arachnopsita, Leptopedetes, Longuripes, Mayagryllus, Nemoricantor, and Prolonguripes. All seven genera, among other characters, possessing an elongated middle apical spur. [1]