Prayers for fossil mantis unfulfilled: Prochaeradodis enigmaticus Piton, 1940 is a cockroach (Blattodea)

Yingying Cui (1) , Dominic Evangelista (2) , Olivier Béthoux (3)

1 South China Normal University
2 ISYEB - Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité
3 CR2P - Centre de Recherche en Paléontologie - Paris

The fossil species Prochaeradodis enigmaticus Piton, 1940, from Menat (France, Paleocene) has been regarded as a crown-Mantodea (praying mantis) and was subsequently used as one of the very few temporal calibration points relevant for the order. Ambiguities in previous descriptions prompted us to re-examine the type material. Based on our new observations and a broad comparative analysis across Dictyoptera, we recognized three independent morphological character states supporting an unequivocal placement of the fossil within Blattodea (cockroaches and termites). These states are: 1) in forewing, the AA area has intercalary veins; 2) in forewing, ScP is short and oblique; and 3) in hind wing, CuA has many posterior branches not reaching the posterior wing margin but the cubital furrow. This new placement discounts the use of this fossil as a Mantodea tree calibration point.

Keywords: Polyneoptera; Blattaria; Blattoptera; Blattida; dating; morphology; palaeoentomology

Domains: Life Sciences [q-bio]; Environmental Sciences

Yingying Cui, Dominic Evangelista, Olivier Béthoux. Prayers for fossil mantis unfulfilled: Prochaeradodis enigmaticus Piton, 1940 is a cockroach (Blattodea). Geodiversitas, 2018, 40 (3), pp.355-362. ⟨10.5252/geodiversitas2018v40a15⟩. ⟨mnhn-03976710⟩