New Cimbrophlebiidae (Insecta: Mecoptera) from the Early Eocene at McAbee, British Columbia, Canada and Republic, Washington, USA

Abstract

Four new scorpionfly species of the family Cimbrophlebiidae (Mecoptera) are described in the genus Cimbrophlebia Willmann from two localities of the far-western North American Early Eocene Okanagan Highlands: C. flabelliformis sp. n. and C. leahyi sp. n. from McAbee, British Columbia, Canada; and C. brooksi sp. n. and C. westae, sp. n. from Republic, Washington, U.S.A. A further, partially preserved specimen of a large cimbrophlebiid from McAbee is treated as Cimbrophlebia sp. A. This is the first record of the extinct family in the Western Hemisphere, which was previously known with confidence from the Early Eocene of Denmark (C. bittaciformis Willmann) and the Jurassic of Germany (Malmocimbrophlebia buergeri Bechly & Schweigert and an undescribed genus and species); Telobittacus fragosus Zhang from Early Cretaceous of China may also belong to the family. These Okanagan Highlands occurrences further reflect Early Eocene cross-North Atlantic distributions that have been well documented in plants and mammals, and are increasingly seen in insects. © 2009 Magnolia Press.