AW Insect Book: Antlions, Lacewings (Neuroptera)

[ExFmem]

Grassland Antlion Creoleon sp.
Family: Myrmeleontidae

Probably an undescribed species of Creoleon per ADU Lacewing Project


KTP Sept. 11, 2014

[ExFmem]

Grassland Antlion Creoleon luteipennis
Family: Myrmeleontidae

Fairly common and widespread, but nothing know of its biology, or real taxonomic status. ((ID and info. by ADU Lacewing Project))




KTP Sept. 9, 2014

[Richprins]

Split-eyed Owlfly Proctarrelabis involvens
Subfamily: Ascalaphinae. Tribe: Proctarrelabrini



Female, Nelspruit

Distribution
This is the most commonly encountered species of Proctarrelabis, which is widespread in eastern and northern South Africa, from Grahamstown to northern KZN, extending to Gauteng (Pretoria) and into Zimbabwe.

[Klipspringer]

Hairy Owlfly Neomelambrotus striatus
Family: Ascalaphidae. Subfamily: Haplogleniinae

Neomelambrotus striatus, KTP.jpg (45.01 KiB) Viewed 1185 times

KTP © ExFmem
This picture shows the typical pheromone-emitting pose.

Hairy owlflies of the genus Neomelambrotus are medium-sized (wingspan 45 mm), very hairy, with setal tufts of stiff hairs on the top, bottom and sides of the abdomen. Seven regional species in the genus. Adults hunt small flying insects at dusk. Day-time resting posture mimics appearance of a short twig.


Distribution:
This species occurs from Namibia, into SA, Eastern Cape, Northern Cape.

[Klipspringer]

Antlion Palparellus flavofasciatus
Family: Myrmeleontidae. Subfamily: Palparinae. Tribe Palparini

© nan
Hardap Game Park, Namibia

Southern Africa harbours 42 of the 88 known species of Palparini. Twenty-nine of the 42 species are endemic to the western parts of the subregion, including Namibia, Botswana, the Western, Northern and Eastern Cape, and North-West Provinces of South Africa. This antlion tribe includes the largest species in the family and, consequently, the largest larvae. A large larva enables these specialist predators to exploit a wide range of prey, but it also jeopardises the safety of the conspicuously large adults. Their great size renders them vulnerable to predators, and palparines have consequently evolved elaborately patterned wings to enhance their camouflage. In many species these patterns mimic the dominant plant species within the biomes in which the antlions occur. This in turn restricts Palparini to the biomes that influenced their evolutionary adaptations. Each palparine species in southern Africa has a closely related sister-species that occurs in a different biome, and they are seldom sympatric.

Genus Palparellus: Characterized by broad, pale-yellow area on the pronotum, extending dorsomedially along mesoand metatergites. Forewings heavily marked with various shades of brown, and with two diagnostic yellow bands, one basal, the other subapical.
Eight similar looking species in Southern Africa.


Description
Palparellus flavofasciatus is characterized by maculate forewings with two distinct yellow bands, one basal one subapical, and males with dark-brown ectoprocts.
Forewings maculated with yellow and brown; costal area with alternating yellow and brown maculae; base of wing completely maculate; basal yellow band flanked by brown, extending from R to posterior margin; a large brown macule present in middle of wing, extending from R to M; apical yellow band extending from pterostigma to posterior margin; wing apex brown, enclosing several yellow maculae.
Hindwings pale-yellow with three distinct brown bands; base of wing generally immaculate, occasionally with some brown over recurrent vein; basal brown band extending from R to hind margin, dilating posteriorly, enclosing two yellow maculae; median band similar to basal band; apical band covering apex of wing and enclosing a large irregular yellow macule.

Distribution
Found in Namibia and Southern Angola.

Habitat
Open grassland.

Biology
Adults have been recorded from December to April. They occur often in large numbers, and are occasionally attracted to light.


Links:
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/4553/d ... d07a56.pdf
https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio ... 0/download

[Klipspringer]

Large Pit-building Antlion Macroleon quinquemaculatus, formerly: Myrmelon quinquemaculatus
Family: Myrmeleontidae. Subfamily: Myrmeleontinae. Tribe: Myrmeleontini

© Richprins
Nelspruit, March 2020

Macroleon quinquemaculatus is the largest pit-building species. Widely distributed in tropical and South Africa (all provinces except FS, NC).
Adult Myrmeleontidae have short and clavate or apically thickened antennae.

Pit-digging antlions (Neuroptera: Myrmeleontidae), the larvae of winged adult insects, are thought to be the most sedentary of insect predators. After larvae emerge from their eggs and find a shady location that also offers protection from wind and rain, they construct a funnel-shaped pit in sandy soil by spiraling backwards, excavating the sand with their head and mandibles. Once their pits are completed, antlions position themselves at the vertex, covered either partially or entirely by the substrate, and wait motionless unless disturbed, for prey to stumbleinside. Even when prey is scarce, antlions infrequently relocate their pits. Indeed, relocation is constrained by so many factors, notably the high energetic costs of moving, that some species remainin the same location for months at a time, without food, until death by starvation. Because of their intermittent food supply, the length of antlions’ larval period is long, relative to many other insects, lasting upwards of three years. By comparison, antlions’ egg, pupal and adult stages last 30 days or less.

Photo of larva here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467- ... /figures/1

[Klipspringer]

Lacewing Italochrysa impar
Family Chrysopidae. Subfamily Chrysopinae. Tribe Belonopterygini

1.jpg (60.17 KiB) Viewed 659 times

Mpumalanga, Marloth Park © Richprins

Genus Italochrysa
Medium-sized to large, robust lace-wings, with a wing-length in the South African species of 15-27 mm.
Head short and broad. Eyes very large. Antennae stout Abdomen stout.
The life-history of only one of the species of this genus is known, the type-species I. italica. Its larva is a nest-parasite of the ant Crematogaster scutellaris. It remains to be proved if other species of this genus have similar habits.

Identification
A species that can easily be confused with Dysochrysa furcata because of the red coloration of the thorax and abdomen.
Medium sized: length of body 13 mm, of forewing 20 mm, of hindwing 18 mm, of antenna 19 mm.
Head, palpi, scape and pedicel yellow with short, pale hairs.
Pronotum yellow with reddish anterior margin and a pair of large red spots towards the lateral margins, which spots are prolonged as a broad stripe towards the middle of the disc but do not meet. Lateral margins pale beside the spots. Praescutum yellow with a broad black stripe along the anterior margin. Meso- and metascutum spotted black. Scutelli pale with a pair of lateral black stripes anteriorly. Legs yellowish with a few blackish markings.
Wings hyaline. Pterostigma yellowish, dense.
Abdomen yellow and brown, the brown colour dominating on the proximal and intermediate tergites and sternites which are brown with yellow portions medially at base and apex. Apical segments yellow with red-brown dots.

I impar.jpg (146.76 KiB) Viewed 659 times

Distribution
A very widespread species, extending from northern SA (Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Limpopo) into Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi.


Links:
Checklist: The Green Lacewings (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae) of South Africa
https://lacewing.tamu.edu/neuropterida/ ... s-4897.pdf