A new genus and species of the cleroid family Lophocateridae are described and illustrated from the mid-Cretaceous amber of northern Myanmar. Gracilenticrus burmiticus Yu, Kolibáč & Ślipiński gen. et sp. nov. is unique among Lophocateridae in the tiny body size, frontoclypeal suture and antennal grooves absent, symmetrical antennal clubs, protrochantin reduced, tarsal claws small and widened at base. A key to the species of Mesozoic Lophocateridae is also provided. Morphological characters of the newly discovered Gracilenticrus were analyzed together with representatives of 43 extant genera of Cleroidea (broadly defined Trogossitidae) in a matrix of 91 characters. Gracilenticrus burmiticus was resolved as a member of Lophocateridae. The discovery of a diverse fauna of Lophocateridae in the mid-Cretaceous sheds a new light on the early evolution of superfamily Cleroidea.

Australian National Insect Collection CSIRO GPO Box 1700 Canberra ACT 2601 Australia

College of Life Sciences Capital Normal University Beijing 100048 China

Department of Entomology Moravian Museum Hviezdoslavova 29a 62700 Brno Czech Republic

Guangdong Key Laboratory of Animal Conservation and Resource Utilization Guangdong Public Laboratory of Wild Animal Conservation and Utilization Institute of Zoology Guangdong Academy of Sciences Guangzhou 510260 China

State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol School of Ecology Sun Yat sen University Guangzhou 510275 China

State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology Chinese Academy of Sciences Nanjing 210008 China

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