Abstract
A new lace bug,
Paleoanomala decapitata
sp. nov. (Tingidae, Tingiometrinae), is described from Lower Cretaceous (upper Albian) amber of Peñacerrada I (Burgos, Spain). The genus
Paleoanomala
was previously known only from Cenomanian Kachin amber of Myanmar, and the discovery of this new species significantly expands its palaeogeographical range as well as the known diversity of lace bugs from Spanish amber deposits. Furthermore, the description of the new species urged us to undertake a reinterpretation of forewing venation in early lace bugs, finding nearly identical venation patterns in the extinct genera
Paleoanomala
and
Tingiometra
(Tingiometrinae), and
Hispanocader
(Hispanocaderidae). Based on this revised interpretation and other shared morphological characters, the extinct tingid subfamily Tingiometrinae and the family Hispanocaderidae are synonymized with Ebboidae, which is here treated as the subfamily Ebboinae stat. nov. within Tingidae. Additionally,
Paleoanomala aptenus
Poinar & Vega is recognized as a junior synonym of
Tingiometra yuripopovi
Golub & Heiss, and the latter species is transferred to
Paleoanomala
as
Paleoanomala yuripopovi
comb. nov. The affinities of the male paratype previously assigned to this species remain uncertain and it is tentatively treated as Ebboinae indet. Finally, a synthesis of the palaeobiogeographical affinities of arthropods from Cretaceous Spanish amber suggests extensive faunal connections between Iberia, Myanmar and the Middle East during the Early Cretaceous, reflecting the widespread distribution of resiniferous forest ecosystems across Laurasia.
