Shcherbakov D.E. 2026. An extraordinary spittlebug nymph (Homoptera: Cercopoidea) from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber // Russian Entomol. J. Vol.35. No.3: 319–325 [in English].
Borissiak Paleontological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Profsoyuznaya St. 123, Moscow 117647 Russia.
Dmitry Shcherbakov: dshh@narod.ru ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4508-9259
doi: 10.15298/rusentj.35.3.04
ABSTRACT. Aidanympha thompsoni gen. et sp.n. from Burmese amber is the first fossil find of nymphal Cercopoidea. This nymph, with a flat crown, outstretched prothoracic paranota and wingpads, and over thirty wax plates on the head, legs, thoracic and abdominal tergites, is more primitive than all other known cercopoid nymphs. The morphology of the new nymph indicates that these nymphs produced spittle, and likely lived in confined spaces, such as leaf axils or between cone scales. Aidanympha gen.n. is assigned to the Mesozoic family Sinoalidae and tentatively associated with adults of the genus Makrosala Chen et Wang, 2020. Two monotypic Cretaceous families are transferred from Cercopoidea to Membracoidea and synonymized under the family Cicadellidae (= Cercopionidae Hamilton, 1990, syn.n.) or its subfamily Ledrinae (= Myanmalidae Chen, 2026, syn.n.).
KEY WORDS: Hemiptera, Auchenorrhyncha, Cicadomorpha, spittlebugs, morphology, oniscoid nymphs, wax plates, cryptic lifestyle.