First Eumastacoidea and new Locustopsidae (Orthoptera: Caelifera) from the Crato Formation of Brazil
The first genus and species of Eumastacoidea from the Lower Cretaceous Crato Formation of northeastern Brazil is described. Cratomastax mariellaae gen. et sp. nov . is reported from a relatively well-preserved specimen, with the wings, head, and metathoracic leg aspects in good condition. It is assigned to the Eumastacoidea based on its forewing venation feature, with M and CuA + CuPaα fused. Due to the presence of two branches of M + CuA, it may be allied to Chorotypidae, but the forewing venation of other families of Eumastacoidea is not sufficiently known to confidently exclude it from these taxa. Additionally, a second species of Aestuacrida is described from the Crato Formation. Aestuacrida mikronaulion sp. nov . is significantly larger than A. stereofemoris Schall, Lima, Heads, Pinheiro, Kotthoff & Husemann, 2025, and its wing venation is more fully preserved. The new species suggests that Aestuacrida belongs to the subfamily Pseudoacridinae, increasing the diversity of this recently established taxon. Lastly, a new specimen of Locustrix gallegoi Martins-Neto, 2003, is reported. Individuals of this genus appear to be rather rare, and the apomorphies of Locustrix Martins-Neto, 2003, were not well understood. The new specimen helps resolve this issue. Locustrix can now be assigned to the subfamily Locustopsinae. The genus is characterized by having two branches of M and CuA + CuPaα and a short ScP of only about 50% of the total forewing length.
Authors
- Sam W. Heads (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3141-1940)
- Ole-Kristian Odin Schall (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-1784-6064)
- Allysson P. Pinheiro
- Martin Husemann
- Daniel Lima
Institutions
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (US)
- State Museum of Natural History Karlsruhe (DE)
- Institute for Biodiversity (DE)
- Universidade Regional do Cariri (BR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Contributions to Entomology
- Published
- 2026-03-04
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3897/contrib.entomol.76.e173923
- Primary Topic
- Orthoptera Research and Taxonomy
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- University of Bristol