Revision and phylogenetic affinities of the lobeattid species bronsoni Dana, 1864 and silvatica Laurentiaux & Laurentiaux-Vieira, 1980 (Pennsylvanian Archaeorthoptera)

The case of the taxonomy of the insect species bronsoni Dana, 1864, yielded from the deposit of Mazon Creek (IL, USA; Westphalian, Pennsylvanian), is investigated. The species contusa Scudder, 1885, infernus Scudder, 1885, clarinervis Melander, 1903, extensa Melander, 1903, indistinctus Melander, 1903, ambulans Handlirsch, 1906, analis Handlirsch, 1906: 700, longicollis Handlirsch, 1911, lata Handlirsch, 1911, elatior Handlirsch, 1911, schucherti Handlirsch, 1911, acutipennis Handlirsch, 1911, parvula Handlirsch, 1911, and angusta Handlirsch, 1911 are considered as junior synonyms of bronsoni. A neotype is designated for this species. The species bronsoni and silvatica Laurentiaux & Laurentiaux-Vieira, 1980 (yielded from the North Coal Basin, France; Westphalian, Pennsylvanian) share the character state ‘in forewings, CuPa fuses with M + CuA’. This character state is used for defining the taxon Miamia nom. DANA 1864, nov. dis.-typ. under cladotypic taxonomy. It is demonstrated that bronsoni and silvatica belong to the taxon Archaeorthoptera nom. Béthoux & Nel, 2002a, dis.-typ. Béthoux 2007e. In particular, these species are closely related to lobeattid insects such as schneideri Béthoux, 2005, a new specimen of which is illustrated. The species bronsoni appears to be one of the most frequent insect species of the Mazon Creek entomofauna.