Afropereboria magnifica gen. et sp. nov., is the oldest African representative of the Permian “cicada-like” family Pereboriidae. The family diagnosis is discussed and emended. Synapomorphic characters of the Pereboriidae are proposed. The two genera Jifara and Scytophara are excluded from this family, confirming that Pereboriidae are strictly Permian. The relationships between the two Permian families Pereboriidae and Ignotalidae and the Triassic Curvicubitidae are still not clear and will need a phylogenetic analysis. We propose new putatively apomorphic diagnostic characters for the Pereboriidae. We also discuss some characters supposed to discriminate the Pereboriidae from the Ignotalidae. The Permian Pereboriidae had a disjunctive distribution between the northern and southern parts of Pangea, under cool temperate climates, separated by the intertropical zones.

Key words: Insecta, Hemiptera, Pereborioidea, disjunctive distribution, Pangea, Africa.

André Nel [anel@mnhn.fr, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4241-7651] (corresponding author) and Romain Garrouste [garroust@mnhn.fr, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0880-5781], Institut de Systématique, Évolution, Biodiversité (ISYEB) Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, EPHE, Université des Antilles, CP50, 57 rue Cuvier 75005 Paris, France. Ekhona Zozo [ekhonazozo@gmail.com, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5351-6180], Department of Zoology and Entomology, Albany Museum, Makhanda, South Africa. Rose Prevec [r.prevec@am.org.za, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6674-1547] (corresponding author), Department of Earth Sciences, Albany Museum, Makhanda, South Africa & Department of Botany, Rhodes University, Makhanda, South Africa.