A new giant species of the remarkable extinct family Kalligrammatidae (Insecta: Neuroptera) from the Lower Cretaceous Crato Formation of Brazil

Makarkinia irmae sp. nov. (Neuroptera, Kalligrammatidae) is described for the Lower Cretaceous Crato Formation of Brazil, based on a well preserved hind wing. This is the third Kalligrammatidae species known from the Crato Formation and for the entire Gondwana. The systematic position of the genus Makarkinia is discussed in the framework provided by recent phylogenetic studies of the Kalligrammatidae, and the genus is placed in the subfamily Kalligrammatinae. The issue of the parallel evolution between the group and the Lepidoptera is revisited and critically evaluated.