Archaeolepis

Archaeolepis mane is the earliest known named Lepidopteran fossil. It dates from the Lower Jurassic (ca 190 million years ago) and according to Grimaldi & Engel (2005)[1] a recent re-examination of the specimen has given additional support to its ordinal placement. The fossil consists of a pair of wings with scales that are characteristically similar to the wing venation pattern found in Trichoptera (caddisflies).

Archaeolepis mane
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Lepidoptera
Family:
†Archaeolepidae
Genus:
†Archaeolepis

Whalley, 1985
Species:
†A. mane
Binomial name
†Archaeolepis mane
Whalley, 1985

The fossil was found in the Charmouth Mudstone Formation, Dorset, United Kingdom by J. F. Jackson (1894-1966), of Charmouth.

References
  1. Grimaldi, D.; Engel, M. S. (2005). Cambridge University Press (ed.). Evolution of the Insects. Cambridge, etc. ISBN 978-0-521-82149-0.


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