Principiala

Principiala is an extinct genus of lacewing in the moth lacewings family Ithonidae. The genus is known from Cretaceous fossils found in South America, Europe, and possibly Asia. The genus is composed of two species, the type species Principiala incerta, and Principiala rudgwickensis.

Principiala is known only from three fossils assigned to the two species and an additional fossil tentatively assigned to the genus. The holotype adult of P. incerta, specimen number SMNK PAL 5352 is housed in the collections of the State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart, while the partial paratype adult, specimen number SMNS 66000/255, is part of the State Museum of Natural History Karlsruhe, Germany. The specimens are preserved as compression fossils in finely laminated siltstones, which were recovered from outcrops of the Nova Olinda Member of the Late Aptian Crato Formation in Northeastern Brazil.P. rudgwickensis was described from a single part and counterpart holotype, "BMB 025005, -6" that is part of the Booth Museum of Natural History in Brighton and Hove, England. The species is older than P. incerta, having been recovered from Rudgwick Brickworks which mined sediments of the Barremian Upper Weald Clay Formation. A single wing has been recovered from the Yixian Formation in China which was noted as probably belonging to the genus by Makarkin et al in 2012.