A new, large Permian Parelmoidae (Insecta, Megasecopteromorpha, Diaphanopterodea) found in Shanxi Province (China)

The insect family Parelmoidae Rohdendorf, 1962 belongs to the extinct order Diaphanopterodea Handlirsch, 1919, itself belonging to the larger taxon Megasecopteromorpha Béthoux in Yang, Ren & Béthoux, 2020. Although generally rare, representatives of this family are a typical component of Permian environments, particularly in the Cisuralian, with occurrence in renowned localities such as Obora, Elmo & Midco, and Chekarda. Here we describe a new Parelmoidae, Grandelmoa jingqii n. gen., n. sp., known from a well-preserved, isolated wing discovered from a new locality, named ‘Zhiyu’ (Shanxi Formation; Shanxi Province, China). The peculiar wing venation pattern of this new taxon is best explained by a translocation (as it is, of MP branches onto CuA), a phenomenon yet rarely documented among palaeopteran taxa. The new species occurs to be, by a small amount, the largest Permian Diaphanopterodea known to date.