Name: Fossil Insects: Family Chrysopidae
Subphylum Hexapoda; Class Insecta; Order Neuroptera
Geological Time: Lower Cretaceous (~125 m.y.a.)
Size: 18 mm long Matrix: 75 mm by 52 mm
Fossil Site: Yixian Formation, Liaoning Province of China
 Description:
The Class Insecta is well represented in Liaoning and Hebei Provinces
of China, with over 500 species referable to over 100 families based
upon over 10,000 specimens. This fantastic diversity and exquisite
detail is unprecedented throughout the world. This example is a member
of the Neuroptera, or lacewings, a group which arose during the Permian.
This is a fine specimen with incredible detail preserved, particularly
in the wings, from the dim past of 125 million years ago. It most
closely resembles the Chrysopidae, or Green Lacewings of which some
1500 exist today. There is an abdomen of another insect preserved
as well. |
