The second genus and species of the extinct neuropteroid family Corydasialidae, from early Eocene McAbee, British Columbia, Canada: Do they belong to Megaloptera?

Abstract

Ypresioneura obscura gen. et sp. nov. from the early Eocene (Ypresian) McAbee locality (Canada, British Columbia) is described. It is assigned to the extinct neuropteroid family Corydasialidae, as the second known genus and species. The Corydasialidae was previously known only from late Eocene (Priabonian) Baltic amber. It was originally assigned to the Megaloptera, but the character states that support this conclusion are not strongly diagnostic. There is still doubt as to whether this family belongs to Megaloptera or to the Neuroptera. If this is a megalopteran (which we favor), it is the first specimen of the order from the insect-rich Okanagan Highlands series of Ypresian localities, which occur sporadically across the southern interior of British Columbia, Canada into north-central Washington, USA.