Latest Permian insects from Wapadsberg Pass, southern Karoo Basin, South Africa

The Permian–Triassic global crisis was the only event to have a dramatic impact on insect diversity, with Palaeozoic insect clades disappearing and accompanied by the accelerated rise of modern lineages. To date, most Permian palaeoentomological work has focused on the upper Permian deposits of the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inAustral entomology Vol. 60; no. 3; pp. 560 - 570
Main Authors Pretorius, Abraham I, Labandeira, Conrad C, Nel, André, Prevec, Rose
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Canberra Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.08.2021
Australian Entomological Society
Subjects
Biodiversity
Changhsingian
Fossils
Grylloblattodea
Hemiptera
Insecta
Insects
Life Sciences
Nymphs
Orthoptera
Palaeozoic
Paleozoic
Paoliida
Permian
Permian–Triassic extinction
Systematics, Phylogenetics and taxonomy
Triassic
South Africa
Karoo
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Summary:The Permian–Triassic global crisis was the only event to have a dramatic impact on insect diversity, with Palaeozoic insect clades disappearing and accompanied by the accelerated rise of modern lineages. To date, most Permian palaeoentomological work has focused on the upper Permian deposits of the Normandien Formation (Beaufort Group), KwaZulu–Natal Province. This paper describes the regional insect fauna preserved close to the Permian–Triassic boundary at Wapadsberg Pass, southern Karoo Basin of South Africa, which provides a rare glimpse into insect life immediately before this global crisis. Here, we describe six insect species from six families within five orders from the two Wapadsberg Pass localities. Mioloptera stuckenbergi (Grylloblattodea) and Permocicada sp. (Hemiptera) were recorded previously from the Lopingian KwaZulu–Natal Province. In addition, we detail the first potential occurrence of South African Permian Tettigoniida (Orthoptera: Tettigonioidea & Hagloidea) and Anthracoptilidae (Paoliida). An Auchenorrhynchan (Hemiptera) nymph and an undetermined insect (order uncertain) also are described.
ISSN:2052-174X
2052-1758
DOI:10.1111/aen.12540