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Resource pulses, occasional events of ephemeral resource superabundance, represent a fundamental mechanism by which energy, nutrients, and biomass are transported across ecotones. They are widespread in extant ecosystems; however, little is known about their deep-time record. We report the earliest-known mayfly swarm from the Early Jurassic Xiwan biota of southern China. Our taphonomic and sedimentological analyses show that these mayflies were buried on the bottom of a calm lake after post-mating death. Our suite of analyses suggests that the complex mating-swarm behavior was already well established in mayflies by the Early Jurassic. More importantly, our find represents the earliest-known resource pulse of insects, a mechanism that can play a substantial role in nutrient transport from aquatic ecosystems to surrounding terrestrial ecosystems. Such an aquatic-terrestrial ecosystem linkage may be a key novelty in Mesozoic lacustrine ecosystems. Our results high-light the underappreciated ecological significance of insects in deep-time terrestrial ecology.

The extinct family Hylicellidae, as the ancestral group of modern cicadomorphans, had a wide distribution and a very high species-level biodiversity from the Triassic to Early Cretaceous. We herein report 11 new hylicellid specimens from the Jurassic Daohugou beds of Inner Mongolia, NE China, and execute geometric morphometric analysis (GMA) to elucidate their systematic position. Our GMA and subsequent morphometric statistics indicate that 10 of our new specimens can be compared to the holotype of Cycloscytina gobiensis, and one is new to science. Cycloscytina incompleta new species is erected based on this specimen, with the following discriminatory tegminal traits: C3 almost as long as and slightly narrower than C2, and the forking position of stem M distinctly migrates towards wing apex and much apicad of the stem CuA bifurcating. Additionally, Cycloscytina plachutai is herein transferred to the procercopid genus Procercopina, resulting in P. plachutai new combination. To date, just a few body structures of Hylicellidae have been revealed, and the new whole-bodied hylicellids reported herein provide some novel insights on the evolution of basal Clypeata. This study also emphasizes the use of morphometric analysis in the systematics of wing-bearing insects such as hylicellids.UUID: http://zoobank.org/84a67eba-9b7c-4e27-a436-764802c4cdfb.

Dysmorphoptilidae is a renowned extinct family of hemipteran insects which is easily distinguished by its bizarrely shaped forewings and distinctive venation. Although widespread in the Early Permian to Middle Jurassic, this family has extremely rarely been recorded in China. Herein one new genus and two new species, Dysmorphoptila gobiensis sp. nov. and Guchinus xinjiangensis gen. et sp. nov., are described from the Lower Jurassic Badaowan Formation of the Junggar Basin, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, NW China, representing the first Jurassic Dysmorphoptilidae from northern China. We present a detailed morphological comparison of all known genera and species of Dysmorphoptilidae and a phylogenetic tree based on eight genera and species with relatively complete tegminal characters. The tree indicates that the present subfamilial classification of Dysmorphoptilidae is questionable. A large-scale diversification in forewing venation probably occurred during the Triassic, possibly coeval with the palaeogeographical radiation and ecological adaption of Dysmorphoptilidae. Our results provide new insights into the evolution and occurrence of this family.

Studies of Triassic insects in China began in 1956, and, so far, a total of 89 genera and 109 species have been found from the Triassic of China. The fossil records from 17 provinces (or regions) in China are assigned to 11 orders, except for two genera and species considered incertae sedis in Insecta. These Chinese Triassic insects, including one Early Triassic, 53 Middle Triassic and 55 Late Triassic species, are briefly reviewed in taxonomy and distribution, and listed here with detailed taxonomic and stratigraphic information. The Middle Triassic Tongchuan and Late Triassic Toksun entomofaunas are introduced in detail from the perspectives of composition and taxonomy. Existing data indicate that the Chinese Triassic entomofauna is dominated by Hemiptera, Mecoptera and Coleoptera; the Chinese Early Triassic insects are only known from Fuyuan in Yunnan Province, Middle Triassic insects are mainly known from northern China and sporadically from Guizhou Province, southern China, and Late Triassic insects are seen widely in both northern and southern China. The Middle and Late Triassic entomofaunas have a similar abundance but show a pattern of being more common in northern China than in southern China.

A new genus and species of the extinct hemipteran family Granulidae, Sinogranulus qishuiheensis gen. et sp. nov., is established on the basis of a tegmen specimen collected from the Middle Triassic...

A planthopper originally assigned to the genus Boreocixius in Surijokocixiidae (Surijokocixioidea, Fulgoromorpha) from the Ladinian (Middle Triassic) of Tongchuan in Shaanxi, northwestern China is described as Boreocixius tongchuanensis Zhang et al. sp. nov. As the third species ascribed to the genus, it differs from its congeners in having the much larger tegmen with postnodal veinlets and pigmented bands, providing new morphological information for Boreocixius. The establishment of the new species further increases the diversity of Boreocixius and Surijokocixiidae as well.

A new family of planthoppers, Szeiiniidae fam. nov., is described on the basis of a well-preserved forewing from the Upper Triassic Yanchang Formation of Huanglong County, Shaanxi Province, China. ...

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With nine species ascribed to eight genera, the sinoalid froghopper tribe Fangyuaniini has been the most abundant and diverse cicadomorphan group in Kachin amber. Based upon recently reported new fossil materials, we herein revised the diagnostic characters of this tribe, and a new genus and species, Electrala muae Chen & Zhuo, gen. et sp. nov., in Kachin amber is described and illustrated. The new taxon can be discriminated from its relatives by a series of unique morphological characters: the head very broad, almost as wide as thorax, the pronotum strongly shortened and about 4 times as wide as long, and forewings with the bifurcation of M and CuA almost at the same level and distad of claval apex. Additionally, a new generic name, Cretadorus Chen, nom. nov., is proposed for Mesodorus Chen & Wang, 2019, since the latter was already preoccupied by a living marine nematode genus Mesodorus Cobb, 1920.

We present vegetation reconstructions based on an almost complete succession through the Triassic of Tulong, Nyalam County, southern Xizang (Tibet), China. The Permian and earliest Triassic samples were barren of palynomorphs, however, in overlying strata we identified well-preserved and diverse miospore assemblages. Seven pollen and spore zones spanning the Olenekian to the Rhaetian were recognized. These palynological zones were amalgamated into three floral stages that comprise distinct vegetation types: (1) an early Olenekian lycophyte dominated flora with common pteridosperms, indicative of a warm and dry climate; (2) a late Olenekian transitional flora composed of abundant conifers with low abundances of lycophytes, signifying a decrease in temperature and increase in humidity; (3) a Middle to Late Triassic mature conifer-dominated flora with diverse sphenophytes, ferns and cycadophytes, indicative of a stable, temperate and humid climate. The changes in vegetation and climate tentatively correlate with the rifting of northern Gondwana, suggesting that regional tectonics was a contributive driving factor to local floral community change. This work was also supported by the Strategic Priority Research Program (B) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (grant numbers XDB26010206, XDB18000000, XDB03010103), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number 41688103), Key Laboratory of Economic Stratigraphy and Palaeogeography, Chinese Academy of Sciences (grant number 2017KF07), UNESCO grant IGCP 632.

The cicadellid subfamily Ledrinae known in the Mesozoic is represented by two monotypic genera erected on six compression fossils from the Lower Cretaceous Crato Formation in Brazil, and the monotypic genus Qilia based on an adult leafhopper in mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber from northern Myanmar. We herein describe and illustrate a new female ledrine in Kachin amber, based on which a new genus and species, Duyana electronica gen. et sp. nov., is established. Duyana gen. nov. shares a series of features with the genus Qilia, but is distinguishable from the latter with some novel morphological characteristics. The hitherto definite cicadellid recorded in the Mesozoic are very scarce, and our find provides new information on early disparity of this mega-diverse insect lineage.