New palaeodictyopterid Paraostrava stanislavi gen. n., sp. n. is described from the Upper Carboniferous (Duckmantian) deposits of the Jan Šverma Mine in northern Bohemia (Czech Republic). The new taxon based on hindwing venation is attributed to Homoiopteridae and compared with the other homoiopterid and heolid genera within Homoiopteroidea. Due to the poor state preservation of Boltopruvostia robusta, we consider this taxon as Palaeodictyoptera: Homoiopteridae of uncertain position and restore the well defined genus Ostrava Kukalová, 1960 (type species Ostrava nigra Kukalová, 1960). Some uncertainties in the current state of knowledge on the taxonomy and phylogeny of the Homoiopteridae are pointed out. The characters matrix used to separate the genera of Homoiopteroidea is included.
Zygokaratawia reni, a new campterophlebiid genus and species is described from the Middle Jurassic of China. This fossil has a wing shape unique for this clade, i.e. a fore- and hind wing of the same width and very shortly petiolated, and hind wing cubito-anal area nearly as narrow as that of the forewing. This wing shape is convergently similar to that of recent Zygoptera: Calopterygidae, as well as to several other Cenozoic zygopteran clades, suggesting similar styles of flight and habits, i.e. predation on small insects and flight along trees of river banks.
New palaeodictyopterid Namuroningxia elegans sp. n. (Namuroningxiidae fam. n.) and archaeorthopterid Sinopteron huangheense gen. n., sp. n. (uncertain family assignment) are described from the Tupo Formation (Upper Carboniferous, Namurian, northern China, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region). Both new taxa exhibit a unique structure of their wing venation pattern. The Namuroningxiidae fam. n. bears a mosaic of characters diagnostic of several "palaeopteran" families throughout Palaeodictyopteroida and Eupalaeoptera. This fact is highly interesting in reference to the Namurian age known for the occurrence of the first winged insects as well as the palaeogeographical position of the locality far from all sites in Laurussia. The preliminary study of entomofauna diversity exhibit frequent occurrence of archaeorthopterid wing fragments (e.g., Sinopteron huangheense) forming up to 40 percent of all insect specimens demonstrate high abundance of this group in the early Late Carboniferous ecosystems.
Elektrophthiria magnifica gen. n., sp. n., oldest bee fly of the bombyliid subfamily Phthiriinae, is described from the Lowermost Eocene amber of Oise (France). It suggests at least a Late Cretaceous age for this group, coincident with the diversification of the flowering plants. Eurodoliopteryx inexpectatus gen. n., sp. n., oldest representative of the mythicomyiid subfamily Glabellulinae, is probably the sister genus of extant Doliopteryx, distributed in Africa and the Arabian peninsula, under very arid conditions. This discovery suggests a relatively humid forest close to a river with a drier surrounding area for the palaeoenvironment of the Oise amber.