# Ororaphidia

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***Ororaphidia*** is an [extinct](/source/Extinct) [genus](/source/Genus) of [snakefly](/source/Snakefly) containing two species: the [type species](/source/Type_species) ***Ororaphidia megalocephala***[1] and ***Ororaphidia bifurcata***.[2]

## History and classification

Doctors [Michael S. Engel](/source/Michael_S._Engel) and [Dong Ren](/source/Dong_Ren) first studied and described *Ororaphidia* and the co-occurring *[Styporaphidia](/source/Styporaphidia)* and in 2008, publishing a formal description in the *[Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society](/source/Journal_of_the_Kansas_Entomological_Society)* volume 81.[1] The genus name comes from the Greek *oros* meaning "mountain" and *[Raphidia](/source/Raphidia)*, the type genus for, and most often used as, a stem for generic names in the order Raphidioptera.[1] The species name is a combination of the Greek words *megalose* meaning "very large" and *kephale* meaning "head" and is in reference to the notably large size of the head capsule compared to other raphidiopterans.[1]

## Description

The genus is known from only the [holotype](/source/Holotype), a single female specimen, deposited in the Department of Biology, [Capital Normal University](/source/Capital_Normal_University), [Beijing](/source/Beijing), [China](/source/China) as specimen number NNS-200201. Preserved as a [compression fossil](/source/Compression_fossil), the female individual is fossilized in a resting position giving a top view to the body and wings.[1] The *Ororaphidia* holotype was found in the near Daohugou Village, [Inner Mongolia](/source/Inner_Mongolia), China from the [Jiulongshan Formation](/source/Jiulongshan_Formation). The formation is dated as early [middle Jurassic](/source/Middle_Jurassic), specifically [Aalenian](/source/Aalenian) to [Bajocian](/source/Bajocian) in age. This dating places *Ororaphidia* and *Styporaphidia* as the oldest raphidiopterans known from China.[1] Excluding the [ovipositor](/source/Ovipositor) which is short and does not pass the wingtips, *Ororaphidia* is 12 millimetres (0.47 in) and has a forewing length of 11.4 millimetres (0.45 in). The head is longer than it is wide and is slightly longer than the [prothorax](/source/Prothorax).[1] *Ororaphidia* has wing venation which while superficially similar to some *[Mesoraphidia](/source/Mesoraphidia)* genera, it can be distinguished by a number of differences including a [pterostigmal](/source/Pterostigma) cross vein and the noticeably short [ovipositor](/source/Ovipositor).[1]

## References

1. Engel, M.S. & Ren, D. (2008). ["New Snakeflies from the Jiulongshan Formation of Inner Mongolia, China (Raphidioptera)"](http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.2317/JKES-802.19.1?journalCode=kent). *Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society*. **81** (3): 188–193. [doi:10.2317/JKES-802.19.1](https://doi.org/10.2317/JKES-802.19.1). [S2CID 84348601](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:84348601)

1. Ya-Nan Lyu; Dong Ren; Xingyue Liu (2017). "Review of the fossil snakefly family Mesoraphidiidae (Insecta: Raphidioptera) in the Middle Jurassic of China, with description of a new species". *Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology*. **41** (3): 403–412. [doi:10.1080/03115518.2017.1298840](https://doi.org/10.1080/03115518.2017.1298840). [S2CID 90320628](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:90320628)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Ororaphidia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ororaphidia) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ororaphidia?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.