A new hangingfly (Insecta, Mecoptera, Bittacidae) from the Purbeck Limestone Group (Lower Cretaceous) of southern England and a review of Cretaceous Bittacidae

•Abundance and diversity of Bittacidae rapidly decreased at the end of Jurassic.•40 species of hangingflies within 23 genera have been described from Jurassic.•Seven species of bittacids in five genera are known to date from the Cretaceous.•Tytthobittacus jarzembowskisp. nov. is the second bittacid from European Cretaceous.•Newly described species confirms the antiquity of Australian genus Tytthobittacus.

Rapid radiation of the Bittacidae during the Jurassic resulted in high diversity within this family of Mecoptera. More than 40 species within 23 genera have been described from this period. However, around the end of the Jurassic the abundance and diversity of Bittacidae decreased and only seven species in five genera are known to date from the Cretaceous. A new specimen from the basal Cretaceous of England, Tytthobittacus jarzembowskisp. nov., described here, represents the eighth species and the second fossil representative of this family from the European Cretaceous. This hangingfly belongs to an extant and relictual genus previously known only from Australia. The paper also includes a review of all known Cretaceous bittacids and a re-examination of European species Antiquanabittacus nanus Petrulevičius and Jarzembowski, 2004.