Cascoplecia

{{short description|Extinct species of fly}}

{{Speciesbox

| fossil_range= {{Fossilrange|Aptian|Cenomanian|Late Aptian to Early Cenomanian}}

| image = Cascoplecia fossil in Burmese amber.jpg

| image_caption = holotype fossil

| genus = Cascoplecia

| species = insolitis

| parent_authority = Poinar, 2010

| authority = Poinar, 2010

| display_parents=3

| synonyms =

| synonyms_ref =

}}

Cascoplecia insolitis, rarely known as the unicorn fly,{{Cite journal |first=George |last=Poinar Jr. |title=Cascoplecia insolitis (Diptera: Cascopleciidae), a new family, genus, and species of flower-visiting, unicorn fly (Bibionomorpha) in Early Cretaceous Burmese amber |journal=Cretaceous Research |year=2010 |volume=31 |issue=1 |pages=71–76 |doi=10.1016/j.cretres.2009.09.007|bibcode=2010CrRes..31...71P }} is an extinct dipteran that lived in the Early Cretaceous. The type specimen was found in Burmese amber. George Poinar Jr., who described the fossil, placed the genus into a new family Cascopleciidae. One of the defining characteristics of Cascoplecia is the presence of three ocelli raised on an extended, horn-like protuberance. The distinctiveness of the family was questioned by other authors, and the genus has been subsequently transferred to the family Bibionidae.Thomas Pape, Vladimir Blagoderov & Mikhail B. Mostovski. 2011 [https://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2011/f/zt03148p229.pdf Order DIPTERA Linnaeus, 1758.] In: Zhang, Z.-Q. (Ed.) Animal biodiversity: An outline of higher-level classification and survey of taxonomic richness.{{cite journal |last1=Li |first1=L. |last2=Skibińska |first2=K. |last3=Krzemiński |first3=W. |last4=Wang |first4=B. |last5=Xiao |first5=C. |last6=Zhang |first6=Q. |year=2021 |title=A new March fly Protopenthetrius skartveiti gen. nov. et sp. nov.(Diptera, Bibionidae, Plecinae) from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber |journal=Cretaceous Research |volume=104924}}

File:Cascoplecia insolitis.jpg