Protopsyllidiidae from the Jiyuan Basin (Henan, China): Taxonomic Updates and Their Biostratigraphic Implications

Abundant new material of protopsyllidiids was collected from the late Middle Jurassic Yangshuzhuang Formation at Jiyuan City, Henan Province, Central China, and is described herein. The dominant form was assigned to the species “Poljanka hirsuta Yang, Yao & Ren, 2012”, first described from the Daohugou beds (Haifanggou Formation, Inner Mongolia, North China). Furthermore, the species is herein transferred from the genus Poljanka Klimaszewski, 1995 to Cicadellopsis Martynov, 1937 and renamed Cicadellopsis hirsuta (Yang, Yao & Ren, 2012) comb. nov. based on the presence of a forked vein RA in the forewings, as evidenced by the newly discovered specimens. A second protopsyllidiid species, Poljanka jiyuanensis sp. nov., is also described and illustrated, showcasing the diversity of Protopsyllidioidea in the Mesozoic Chinese deposits. Abundant specimens of Cicadellopsis hirsutacomb. nov. have been discovered in both the Yangshuzhuang Formation at Jiyuan, Henan Province, and the Haifanggou Formation at Ningcheng, Inner Mongolia, further supporting their biostratigraphic correlation. This also indicates that the early assemblage of the Yanliao biota, represented by the Daohugou biota, was distributed at least as far south as Central China.