Proraphidia is a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of Snakefly

Snakefly

Snakeflies are a group of insects in the order Raphidioptera, consisting of about 210 extant species. Together with the Megaloptera they were formerly placed within the Neuroptera, but now these two are generally regarded as separate orders....

 in the extinct family Mesoraphidiidae. The genus currently contains three species; Proraphidia gomezi from Spain, Proraphidia hopkinsi from England, and the type species Proraphidia turkestanica from Kazakhstan. The genus was first described by O. M. Martynova in 1941 with the publication of P. turkestanica from Jurassic

Jurassic

The Jurassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about Mya to  Mya, that is, from the end of the Triassic to the beginning of the Cretaceous. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of the Mesozoic era, also known as the age of reptiles. The start of the period is marked by...

 deposits in Karatau, Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...

.

All species in the genus are noted for the small size of the pterostigma

Pterostigma

The pterostigma is a cell in the outer wing of insects which is often thickened or coloured and so stands out from other cells. It is particularly noticeable in dragonflies, but present also in other insect groups, such as snakeflies, hymenopterans and megalopterans.The purpose of the pterostigma,...

 when compared to other raphidiopteran species. P. hopkinsi and P. gomezi were described by James E. Jepson and Edmund A. Jarzembowski in a 2008 paper published in the journal Alavesia. P. hopkinsi is known from a fossil found in deposits of the Lower Weald Clay

Weald Clay

Weald Clay is a Lower Cretaceous sedimentary rock underlying areas of South East England. It is part of the Wealden Group of rocks. The clay is named after the Weald, an area of Sussex. It varies from orange and grey in colour and is used in brickmaking....

 at the Clockhouse Brickworks in Surrey, England. The deposits date to the Late Hauterivian

Hauterivian

The Hauterivian is, in the geologic timescale, an age in the Early Cretaceous epoch or a stage in the Lower Cretaceous series. It spans the time between 136.4 ± 2 Ma and 130 ± 1.5 Ma...

 stage of the Lower Cretaceous. The P. hopkinsi holotype

Holotype

A holotype is a single physical example of an organism, known to have been used when the species was formally described. It is either the single such physical example or one of several such, but explicitly designated as the holotype...

 is described from a single forewing that is 11.5 millimetre (0.452755905511811 in) long preserved in a section of siltstone concretion also containing Blattodea, Hemiptera

Hemiptera

Hemiptera is an order of insects most often known as the true bugs , comprising around 50,000–80,000 species of cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, shield bugs, and others...

, Mecoptera

Mecoptera

Mecoptera are an order of insects with about 550 species in nine families worldwide. Mecoptera are sometimes called scorpionflies after their largest family, Panorpidae, in which the males have enlarged genitals that look similar to the stinger of a scorpion...

, and Diptera

Diptera

Diptera , or true flies, is the order of insects possessing only a single pair of wings on the mesothorax; the metathorax bears a pair of drumstick like structures called the halteres, the remnants of the hind wings. It is a large order, containing an estimated 240,000 species, although under half...

 specimens. The wing is narrower than P. turkestanica, with three crossveins between the R and Sc veins, and the second branch of the CuA forked. The type specimen is housed in the Booth Museum of Natural History

Booth Museum of Natural History

Booth Museum of Natural History is a municipally-owned museum of natural history in the city of Brighton and Hove in the South East of England. It is part of "Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton and Hove". Admission is free....

 at Brighton

Brighton

Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...

, England, as specimen number "BMB 014915, - 8". P. hopkinsi was named in honor of Dick Hopkins, a long-time volunteer of the Booth Museum.

The holotype of Proraphidia gomezi is a partial body with overlapping fore and hind wings preserved in Early Barremian

Barremian

The Barremian is an age in the geologic timescale between 130.0 ± 1.5 Ma and 125.0 ± 1.0 Ma). It is a subdivision of the Early Cretaceous epoch...

-age limestone from deposits at Pedrera de Meià in Rúbies

Serra del Montsec

The Serra del Montsec is a mountain system of the Pre-Pyrenees.-Description:The Serra del Montsec consists of a series of calcareous mountain ranges. Runs from east to west, it is about 40 km long and 186.96 square kilometres in area...

, Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

. The forewings are 13 millimetre (0.511811023622047 in) long while the hindwings are notably shorter than P. turkestanica and have fewer veinlets in the coastal region. Named for Mr Gómez-Pallerola, a fossil collector and contributor to the Institut d'Estudis Ilerdencs

Institut d'Estudis Ilerdencs

Institut d'Estudis Ilerdencs , also known by the acronym IEI, is a cultural institution created on March 25, 1942 in Lleida, Catalonia, Spain by the provincial delegation, then under the leadership of Josep Maria de Porcioles, with the aim of promoting culture and research in the region of Lleida...

 in Lérida, Spain where the holotype of P. gomezi, specimen number "L. 29" is housed. A fourth species, from the Upper Jurassic/Lower Cretaceous sediments at Baisa, Buryatia, Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

, was previously placed in Proraphidia by Dr. Martynova in 1961 as Proraphidia vitimica. However the species was subsequently moved to Alloraphidia in 1993 by Dr. Alexandr G. Ponomarenko. The species was then placed in its current genus Pararaphidia as Pararaphidia vitimica by Dr. Michael Engel

Michael S. Engel

Michael S. Engel is an American paleontologist and entomologist. He has undertaken field work in Central Asia, Asia Minor, and the Western Hemisphere, and published more than 300 papers in scientific journals. He was trained at the University of Kansas where in 1993 he received a B.S. in Cellular...

in 2002.