The enigmatic early Permian polyneopteran insect Enigmapaolia shanxiensis Huang & Nel, gen. et sp. nov. is described on the basis of a forewing from North China. It is tentatively attributed to the Paoliida and Paoliidae rather than to the “Grylloblattodea”, on the basis of the cubital veins with a broad area between CuP and CuA and general pattern of venation. It shows a unique character among the Paleozoic insects in the short radius anterior distally ending into the subcostal posterior. This fossil increases our knowledge on the diversity of the Paoliidae and the early Permian entomofauna of the Shanxi Formation of North China.

Diying Huang [dyhuang@nigpas.ac.cn; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5637-4867] (corresponding author) and Yanzhe Fu [yzfu@nigpas.ac.cn; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7819-1703], State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China. Wanyun Zhang [54884463@qq.com; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-9696-4890], Shuozhou No.4 Middle School, Shuozhou 036006, Shanxi, China. Wei Li [615509449@qq.com; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-8887-7433], Jiadi Residential Community, Shanyin, Shuozhou 036900, Shanxi, China. André Nel [anel@mnhn.fr; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4241-7651] (corresponding author), Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité (ISYEB), Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, EPHE, Université des Antilles, CP 50, 57 rue Cuvier, 75005 Paris, France.