Electrodysagrion neli sp. nov., the second Cretaceous dysagrionine damselfly (Odonata: Zygoptera: Dysagrionidae) from Kachin amber, northern Myanmar

Abstract

The dysagrionid damselflies, characterized by a broad quadrilateral discoidal cell, are widely recorded in the Lower Cretaceous–lower Oligocene, and frequently found in mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber (Zheng et al., 2016, 2017a, b, 2018a). Three genera and four species of Dysagrionidae have been described from Kachin amber, including Burmadysagrion zhangi Zheng, Wang & Nel, 2016, Electrodysagrion lini Zheng, Nel & Wang, 2017, Palaeodysagrion cretacicus Zheng et al., 2017 and Palaeodysagrion youlini Zheng, Chang & Wang, 2018 (Zheng et al., 2016, 2017a, b, 2018a). The dysagrionid damselflies have several types of discoidal cells seen in the Kachin amber species, contributing to evaluating the early evolution and diversification of the discoidal cell. For example, Burmadysagrion has the anterior and posterior sides of the discoidal cell not parallel, and the basal side longer than the distal side; Electrodysagrion has the anterior and posterior sides of the discoidal cell not parallel, and distal side longer than the basal side; and Palaeodysagrion has a long and narrow discoidal cell. In the present paper, a new dysagrionine damselfly is described representing the second dysagrionine in Kachin amber. The new damselfly allows for the revision of the generic characters of Electrodysagrion Zheng, Nel & Wang, 2017.