New Cretaceous fossils highlight the diverse reproductive behavior and life-styles of the extinct family Babinskaiidae (Insecta, Neuroptera)

Babinskaiidae is an extinct family of the lacewing superfamily Myrmeleontoidea. Currently, 22 species in 16 genera have been recorded only from three Cretaceous localities. Here, we report a new genus and two new species of Babinskaiidae from mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber, namely Milubabinskaia zhiqiae gen. et sp. nov. and Stenobabinskaia chenjieae sp. nov.

Milubabinskaia gen. nov. resembles Electrobabinskaia Lu, Zhang & Liu, 2017 and Pseudobabinskaia Makarkin, 2018 in the presence of a pair of processes on the female sternum 6, but its wing venation aligns more closely with Burmobabinskaia Lu, Zhang & Liu, 2017. Stenobabinskaia chenjieae sp. nov. is characterized by the medial fusion of the RP stem with RA in both fore- and hind wings, the presence of a straight oblique presectoral crossvein, and the presence of marginally forked MP 2 in the hind wing.

These new discoveries provide further evidence for understanding the species and morphological diversity of Babinskaiidae.