Taiophlebiidae Martins-Neto & Gallego & Brauckmann & Cruz 2007, fam. n.

Family Taiophlebiidae Martins-Neto, fam. n.

Type genus: Taiophlebia Martins-Neto, gen. n.

Diagnosis: Fore wing with ScP and RA distally fused and RP multi-branched. RP origin at 1/5 of the wing base.

Genus Taiophlebia Martins-Neto, gen. n.

Taiophlebia: Martins-Neto et al., 2004: 45.

Etymology: From the type locality and phlebia = vein (latinized form of Greek phleps). Gender feminine.

Type species: T. niloriclasodae Martins-Neto, sp. n., by present designation.

Diagnosis: Fore wing with more than 100 mm long. Costal margin straight. Sc branching in ScA and ScP. ScP with at least two strong secondary branches. ScP/RA fused circa 1/ 4 of the wing apex. CuA most proximal branch reaches the anal margin after the wing midlength.

Species included: The type species and Taiophlebia ferreirai (Pinto, 1994), comb. n.

Remarks: T. niloriclasodae from the upper part of the Rio do Sul Formation at the Taió municipality, Santa Catarina, Brazil (Upper Carboniferous, Paraná Basin) is a key taxon for the understanding of the Ischnoneuroidea – Cacurgoidea complex. Particular characters of the venation such as the distal fusion of ScP and RA, and RP originating close to the basal fifth of the wing support a closer relationship to the representatives of the Ischnoneuroidea (Grylloblattida sensu Storozhenko), rather than to the Cacurgoidea (“ Paraplecoptera ” s.l. or Orthoptera). The Taiophlebiidae differ from the Proedischiidae as well as from their closest related families by the lack of the typical convergence of MP+CuA and thus represent the most basal group within the Ischnoneuroidea – Cacurgoidea complex.Another genus, Cacurgulopsis Pinto & Adami-Rodrigues, 1995 from Boituva, São Paulo (Paraná Basin, Upper Carboniferous) was originally included in the family Cacurgidae. However, in Cacurgus Handlirsch, 1911, the type genus of this family, ScP is not distally fused with the multibranched RA, originating in the basal third of the wing. Cacurgulopsis and Taiophlebia seem to be sister genera and are therefore included in the family Taiophlebiidae (Dutra et al. in press).