A new genus of beaded lacewings (Neuroptera, Berothidae) from the mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber, with implications on the evolution of mouthparts and genital sclerites

A new genus, Rhynchoberotha gen. nov. with two new species (Rhynchoberotha zhangae sp. nov. and Rhynchoberotha biyi sp. nov.) of the lacewing family Berothidae from the mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber are described. The new genus is closely related to Aggregataberotha Wang et al., 2023 and Sejunctaberotha Chen et al., 2024 by having similar forewing venation. Remarkably, the new genus is featured by the presence of a rostrum formed by the elongated chewing-mandibulate mouthparts. Another notable finding refers to the preservation of a mating pair of R. biyi sp. nov., which represents the first record of mating behaviour in fossil Neuroptera. Our new finding highlights the morphological diversity of Berothidae during the Cretaceous, and provides a new insight to the early evolution of mouthparts and genital sclerites.