Aestuacrida mikronaulion Schall, Lima, Heads, Pinheiro & Husemann, 2026, sp. nov.

Aestuacrida mikronaulion sp. nov. Fig. 3 Etymology. The species name is a combination of the Ancient Greek mikron (small) and aulion (farm), dedicated to Dr. Ulrich Kotthoff (Leibniz-Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change, Hamburg), who has co-authored several studies on fossil Orthoptera with the first author. Locality and horizon. Type locality imprecise; from one of the several quarries in the region of Nova Olinda and Santana do Cariri municipalities, Ceará State, Brazil. Nova Olinda Member, Crato Formation, Santana Group. Early Cretaceous, Aptian. Holotype. Male specimen in the collection of Museu de Paleontologia Plácido Cidade Nuvens, Universidade Regional do Cariri, Santana do Cariri, Ceará, Brazil, coll. no. MPSC 9665. Donation from the Private Collection of Prof. Dr. Martin Husemann (collection number MH_Fossil_0075) as part of the guidelines discussed at the “ Brazil-German Colloquium on Paleontology: Science, Cooperation, and Diplomacy for the Future. ” Diagnosis. Generic characters (see above). Forewing: RP with five branches. Anterior two branches of CuA + CuPaα reaching anal wing margin, posterior two fused to CuPaβ. ScP long and fused to RA. Forewing length 27.9 mm, maximum height 4.8 mm. Body length 19.1 mm, height (measured at wing base) 6.28 mm. Head height 4.8 mm. Description. Preservation of wings and body without legs (or the legs are pressed to the body and hardly visible). Measurements of the body and head are given under diagnosis of species. Forewing. Length / height-ratio 5.8. ScP long and narrow, 92.15 % of total wing length (twl). ScP distally with slight upwards path, fused to RA. Space between ScP and RA 7.9 % of total wing height (measured at origin of RP 3). Origin of RP at 53.9 % of twl, posterior to bifurcation of M. Space between RA and RP 7.9 % of wing height (measured at same point as before). RP with five branches. M with two branches; bifurcation of M at 49.1 % of twl. MA 2 reaching anal wing margin at 91.5 % of twl. Anterior-most branch of CuA + CuPaα reaching anal wing margin at 82.9 % of twl. MP reaching anal wing margin in the middle of MA 2 and anterior branch of CuA + CuPaα (precise reaching point damaged). Branches of RP up to first two anterior branches of CuA + CuPaα more or less parallel. Posterior two branches of CuA + CuPaα fused to CuPaβ at 55.3 % and 49.8 % of twl, respectively. CuPaβ and CuPb long, parallel, and with narrow space in between. 1 A relatively short, reaching anal wing margin after 35.8 % of twl. Cross vein pattern simple between cubital branches and more complex net pattern between branches of M and RP. Remarks. Aestuacrida mikronaulion sp. nov. differs from its congeneric species A. stereofemoris mainly by being significantly larger (forewing length 27.9 mm vs. 16 mm; body length 19.1 mm vs. 12.9 mm). This size difference is unlikely to result from sexual dimorphism, as both known specimens of Aestuacrida are probably males. In the new species, the pathing of CuA + CuPaα can be observed, which was obscured in the holotype of A. stereofemoris. The absence of fusion between CuA + CuPaα and CuPaβ and the continuation of CuA + CuPaα toward the wing base support the placement of Aestuacrida within Pseudoacridinae. However, the genus differs from Pseudoacrida Lin, 1982, in having one fewer branch of M and three additional branches of CuA + CuPaα. It can also be distinguished from Auroralocusta Schall, Lima, Kotthoff, Pinheiro, Heads & Husemann, submitted, by having three more branches of CuA + CuPaα. The addition of Aestuacrida to Pseudoacridinae reinforces the exceptional taxonomic diversity of Locustopsidae in the Crato Formation. Notably, two of the three currently recognized genera within the subfamily — Aestuacrida and Auroralocusta — are endemic to this deposit.