Evidence for wing development in the Late Palaeozoic Palaeodictyoptera revisited. (July 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Rosová, Kateřina; Sinitshenkova, Nina D.; Prokop, Jakub
• Is Part Of: Arthropod structure & development. Volume 63(2021)
• Publication Date: 2021-07
• Subjects: Insecta -- Palaeoptera -- Palaeodictyopterida -- Ephemeroptera -- Postembryonic development -- Wing tracheae and lacunae; Arthropoda -- Morphology -- Periodicals; Arthropoda -- Anatomy -- Periodicals; Arthropoda -- Cytology -- Periodicals; Arthropods -- growth & development -- Periodicals; 595
• DOI: 10.1016/j.asd.2021.101061
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1467-8039

Abstract

Abstract: The numerous fossil specimens described as consecutive series of different larval stages of two species, Tchirkovaea guttata and Paimbia fenestrata (Palaeodictyoptera: Tchirkovaeidae), were reinvestigated with emphasis on comparing the development and growth of their wings with that of the wings of a recent mayfly, Cloeon dipterum . This unique fossil material was for a long time considered as undisputed evidence for an unusual type of wing development in Palaeozoic insects. The original idea was that the larvae of Palaeodictyopterida had wings, which were articulated and fully movable in their early stages of postembryonic development and that these gradually enlarging wings changed their position from longitudinal to perpendicular to the body axis. Moreover, the development of wings was supposed to include two or more subimaginal instars, implying that the fully winged instars moulted several times during their postembryonic development. The results of the present study revealed that there is no evidence that this series of nymphal, subimaginal and imaginal wings provide support for the original idea of wing development in Palaeozoic insects. On the contrary, our results indicate, that the supposed palaeodictyopteran larval wings are in fact wing pads with a wing developing inside the cuticular sheath as in recent hemimetabolous insects. Moreover, this study newly reinterpreted the wing pad base of Parathesoneura carpenteri and confirmed the presence of nygma like structures on wings and wing pads of palaeodictyopteran Tchirkovaeidae. Highlights: Evidence for wing development in palaeodictyopteran Tchirkovaea guttata is revisited. Developing wings of different instars are compared to modern Ephemeroptera. Larval stages of Palaeodictyoptera show wings developing inside the cuticular case. The axilla of Parathesoneura carpenteri is newly reconsidered. Nygma like structures on wings and wing pads of Palaeodictyoptera are confirmed.