Cretophasmomima

Cretophasmomima is an extinct genus of stem-group stick insect (order Phasmatodea) from the Cretaceous period of Eurasia. It is one of the oldest and most basal stick insects known and belongs to the superfamily Susumanioidea.

Temporal Range

The genus existed from the Barremian to the Campanian stages of the Cretaceous period.

Taxonomy

The genus was first described by S. A. Kuzmina in 1985. The type species is Cretophasmomima vitimica, described from the Aptian-aged Zaza Formation in Russia.

Species

Six species have been described:

1. Cretophasmomima vitimica (Kuzmina, 1985) – type species, from the Zaza Formation (Aptian), Russia.
2. Cretophasmomima burjatica (Gorochov, 1988) – from the Zaza Formation, Russia.
3. Cretophasmomima clara (Gorochov, 1988) – from the Ola Formation (Lower Campanian), Russia.
4. Cretophasmomima arkagalica (Gorochov, 1988) – from the Arkagalinskaya Formation (Lower Campanian), Russia.
5. Cretophasmomima melanogramma (Wang, Béthoux & Ren, 2014) – described from three specimens (one female, two males) recovered from the Yixian Formation (Aptian, ~126 ± 4 million years ago) in Inner Mongolia, China (Jehol biota). This species is notable for evidence of leaf mimicry, suggesting it may have mimicked ginkgo plants for defense.
6. Cretophasmomima traceyae (Xu, Jarzembowski & Fang, 2020) – described from a forewing with preserved coloration from the Barremian-aged Weald Clay Formation in England.

Paleobiology

Cretophasmomima melanogramma is particularly significant as it provides some of the earliest direct evidence of plant mimicry in insects. The species' wing venation and body morphology suggest it imitated the leaves of ginkgoalean plants, a defense strategy against predators that dates back to the Early Cretaceous, before the rise of flowering plants (angiosperms). The presence of a female abdominal operculum and a characteristic "shoulder pad" in the forewing are diagnostic features of the genus.