Seminar

The Procercopidae, widely recognized as the most ancient family of the Cercopoidea and a ‘transitional’ group to extant fauna, range from the Early Jurassic to mid-Cretaceous. During the past 30 years, abundant and well-preserved Mesozoic procercopids, belonging to 43 species in 10 genera have been described from Kyrgyzstan, Germany, Russia, China, Korea and Myanmar. Cretaceous procercopids, represented by 13 species in 5 genera, have been reported only from Asia until now (Siberia, northern China and Myanmar). Here we describe the first Cretaceous European record, and the first procercopid find from northwest Europe: Valdicopis tonyi Li, Chen and Jarzembowski, gen. et sp. nov., from the Lower Cretaceous (Wealden) of southern England. Valdicopis gen. nov. differs from other genera in possessing a slender tegmen, wing surface mottled in basal and apical third of wing; CuA directed toward wing base, then strongly geniculate at connection with crossvein cua-cup; crossvein rp-mp distal to crossvein ir; crossvein imp absent; CuA₁ fused with MP₃₊₄; crossvein cua-cup connecting CuA; veins R, MP, and CuA leaving basal cell at common point. It represents the first definite record of the Procercopidae from England and is the first named procercopid from the Cretaceous of Europe, extending the distribution of the Procercopidae, an extinct family of froghoppers.

Additional information: Ms. Yuling LI, yulingli@connect.hku.hk