A new, extremely small, panorthopteran hind wing from the Carboniferous of Avion, France (Archaeorthoptera: Panorthoptera)

The superorder Archaeorthoptera (or total group of the extant Orthoptera) was exceedingly diverse during the Late Carboniferous and Permian. Most of the species described to date are comparatively remote relatives of Orthoptera (Archaeorthoptera nec. Panorthoptera). The Panorthoptera are a clade including species more closely related to crown Orthoptera, sharing with them synapomorphies in their wing venation, viz. division of the anterior-most branch CuPa of CuP into two branches; fusion of the anterior branch CuPaα of CuPa with CuA (or M+CuA). The Orthoptera sensu stricto are then characterized by the posterior branch of CuPa (CuPaβ) generally simple, and by the broadened (‘saltatorial’) metafemora (Béthoux & Nel, 2002). The Panorthoptera are quite rare in the early Late Carboniferous (Béthoux et al., 2012; Gu et al., 2014, 2017). Thus, any new fossil attributable to this clade is welcome to clarify the history of its diversification.