Two new Jurassic stoneflies (Insecta: Plecoptera) from Daohugou, Inner Mongolia, China

Two new genera and two new species of family Taeniopterygidae, Mengitaenioptera multiramis gen. et sp. nov. and Noviramonemoura trinervis gen. et sp. nov. are described. These fossils were collected from Daohugou Village (the Middle Jurassic), Inner Mongolia, China. Hitherto, these fossil species from Daohugou are the oldest taeniopterygids. Both simple and complex venations simultaneously occurred in this group, which reveals that the early diversification of taeniopterids was well underway by the Middle Jurassic. Therefore, we prefer to adopt the Comstock's opinion that the venation of taeniopterids was derived from the simple venation of the older group (such as Palaeonemouridae) at much ancient geological time ago. Some of the descendants carried this simple venation; others evolved into complex venation with many additional crossveins and branches. (C) 2008 National Natural Science Foundation of China and Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier Limited and Science in China Press. All rights reserved.