A new insect species, Scytinoptera tongchuanensis Zhang, Zheng & Zhang sp. nov., is established based on a tegmen collected from the Middle Triassic Tongchuan Formation of Shaanxi Province, NW China, and is assigned to the extinct Hemipteran family Scytinopteridae Handlirsch, 1906. It is the third and the oldest record of Scytinopteridae in China, and is also the first record of this family in northern China. Both a key of the genera to Scytinopteridae and a key of the species to Scytinoptera Handlirsch, 1906 are given. The occurrence of spinicaudatans in the insect-bearing layer indicates that the insect was very possibly preserved in the near-shore area of the Ordos palaeo-lake.