Jörg W. Schneider, André Nel, Georges Gand, Olivier Béthoux, Origine, structure et évolution de la biodiversité (OSEB), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Paléobiodiversité et paléoenvironnements, Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 ( UPMC ) -Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique ( CNRS ), Department of Palaeontology - Institute of Geology, Bergakademie Freiberg, Biogéosciences [Dijon] ( BGS ), Université de Bourgogne ( UB ) -AgroSup Dijon - Institut National Supérieur des Sciences Agronomiques, de l'Alimentation et de l'Environnement-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique ( CNRS ), Work partly supported by an ABC-project grant (RBINS, European Community, Access to Research Infrastructure action of the Improving Human Research Potential Programme, 2003) and by the grant Schn 408/7–1 and 2, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC), Department of Palaeontology - Institute for Geology, Technishe Universität Bergakademie Freiberg (TU Bergakademie Freiberg), Biogéosciences [UMR 6282] [Dijon] (BGS), Université de Bourgogne (UB)-AgroSup Dijon - Institut National Supérieur des Sciences Agronomiques, de l'Alimentation et de l'Environnement-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Biogéosciences [UMR 6282] (BGS), and Université de Bourgogne (UB)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
9 pages; International audience; Based on published data and review of Mecynoptera splendida Handlirsch, 1904, a wing venation ground plan applicable to most taxa of the Palaeozoic superorder Palaeodictyopteroidea is proposed, where each major vein system has a simple anterior sector, and, primitively, a dichotomously branched posterior sector. Lodetiella magnifica nov. gen. and sp. is described, based on an isolated hind wing from the Salagou Formation (Middle to Late Permian; He´rault, France). The venation of Lodetiella magnifica conforms to the predicted ground plan, but differs by its simple posterior cubitus sector. This character is diagnostic of the family Calvertiellidae (Palaeodictyoptera), whose diagnosis is updated.Wing movement in flight is inferred from the peculiar wing vein organization of Lodetiella magnifica. Some ecological preferences might explain the relative rarity of calvertiellids in the fossil record.