Agadirius trojani gen. et sp. nov.: a new owlfly (Neuroptera: Ascalaphidae) from Morocco

A new owlfly, Agadirius trojani gen. et sp. nov., (Ascalaphidae: Ascalaphinae), is described from the Anti-Atlas Mountains, Morocco. The habitus is unmistakable and differs from all other owlflies, but shares some superficial features with the genus Puer Lef?bvre, 1842. Agadirius gen. nov., belongs to the subfamily Ascalaphinae (split eyed owlflies) and has genitalia consistent with the tribe Ascalaphini as defined by Tjeder and Hansson (1992)

A review of the Neuropterida of Liguria (North-West Italy)

Liguria is a small region of Northern Italy; despite its great environmental diversity, this area was never subjected to a thorough research on Neuropterida, so there were only few isolated records, included in papers concerning the whole Italian fauna of these insects. In the last three years specific samplings allowed to double the number of known species, from 42 to 85 belonging to 10 families. The aim of this contribution is to provide a provisional checklist of the Ligurian Neuropterid

The Larvae of European Ascalaphidae (Neuroptera)

The larvae of all the European genera of Ascalaphidae are compared for the first time, highlighting the differential characters for identification purposes. The larva of the genus Ascalaphus is described for the first time while those of Puer, Bubopsis and Deleproctophylla are deeply revised. Actually, the larvae of Ascalaphus festivus (Rambur), Puer maculatus (Olivier), Bubopsis agrionoides (Rambur), Deleproctophylla australis (Rambur), Libelloides latinus (Lefebvre), Libelloides corsicus (Rambur) and Libelloides siculus (Angelini) are described or accurately depicted for the first time. The known larvae of the genus Libelloides are reviewed

The Genus Haploglenius Burmeister 1839 (Neuroptera: Ascalaphidae: Haplogleniinae) in French Guiana, with Description of a New Species

The species of Haploglenius of French Guiana are reviewed, and an identification key to the species occurring in the arrondissement is presented. A new species of the genus, Haploglenius legnotos, tentatively inferred to be endemic, is described, figured, and compared with congeners. It is diagnosed by its relatively short antennae among species in the genus, the presence of a well-developed pronotal valve in males, the HW cubital field with two rows of cells, the pterostigmata pale, and the wing pattern distinctive, the last character being unique in the genus. Diagnostic characteristics placing the new species within Haploglenius are discussed. The species H. abdominevittatus Ardila Camacho and Jones is newly recorded from the region. A distribution map of Haploglenius in French Guiana is provided, as is a DarwinCore-compliant database of material examined

Two new species of Coniopteryx Curtis from China (Neuroptera, Coniopterygidae)

Two new species of Coniopterygidae, Coniopteryx (Coniopteryx) tenuisetosa sp. nov., and Coniopteryx (Coniopteryx) serrata sp. nov., are described from China. Both species differ from congeners in characters of the male genitalia. Coniopteryx (Coniopteryx) alticola Sziraki, 2002, is recorded from China for the first time. A key to species of the genus Coniopteryx from China is presented

Two new species of Coniopteryx Curtis from China (Neuroptera, Coniopterygidae)

Two new species of Coniopterygidae, Coniopteryx (Coniopteryx) tenuisetosa sp. nov., and Coniopteryx (Coniopteryx) serrata sp. nov., are described from China. Both species differ from congeners in characters of the male genitalia. Coniopteryx (Coniopteryx) alticola Sziraki, 2002, is recorded from China for the first time. A key to species of the genus Coniopteryx from China is presented

Redescoberta de Megaloptera em Portugal Continental ap?s um s?culo, uma ordem "renascida" para o pa?s

Rediscovering Megaloptera in mainland Portugal after more than one century, a "reborn"order for the country. Sialis fuliginosa Pictet, 1836 (Megaloptera: Sialidae) is recorded from Portugal for the first time after an historic unclear citation more than one century ago. Photographs of adult and larval habitus are also provide

First record of the antlion Solter liber Navás, 1912 in Italy (Neuroptera, Myrmeleontidae)

Myrmeleontidae are conspicuous insects with moderate species diversity, which are reasonably well studied in Europe. However, dedicated samplings in the Mediterranean region carried out in the last years suggest that the state of knowledge of the representatives of this family occurring in outhern Europe is far from ideal. Over 40 species of antlions and owlflies are reported from Italy, of which a few are only known from the islands of the Sicilian Channel. New information Solter liber Navás, 1912 is reported for the first time in Italy, based on specimens collected in Pantelleria Island in 2022 and 2023

Heliographic signalling in Haploglenius Burmeister, 1839 (Neuroptera Ascalaphidae)

The males of the ascalaphid genus Haploglenius are equipped with a movable pronotal flap, covering a white thoracic membrane, whose function remains poorly known. Few recent original observations, conducted on undisturbed specimens in their natural environment, suggest that this structure is part of a complex visual communication system based on intermittently showing the bright, reflecting, thoracic white area on a dark background. This behaviour is probably associated with courtshi

Eyes in the dark.. Shedding light on the antlion phylogeny and the enigmatic genus Pseudimares Kimmins (Neuropterida: Neuroptera: Myrmeleontidae)

The systematic position of the antlion Pseudimares Kimmins has been disputed since description of the genus. Pseudimares is one of the most enigmatic and unusual members of Myrmeleontidae and probably of all Neuroptera. The taxon has been usually tied to the antlion subfamily Palparinae, although its phylogenetic affinities have never been thoroughly investigated and the monophyly of the subfamily as a whole has never been corroborated. We reconstruct for the first time the phylogenetic affinities of Pseudimares based on both morphological and molecular genetic data. The widely accepted subfamily level subdivision of antlions (Stilbopteryginae, Palparinae, Myrmeleontinae) is refuted in all our analyses, since Stilbopteryginae in the traditional sense are recovered as deeply nested within Myrmeleontidae forming a monophylum with Palparinae, while Myrmeleontinae are poorly supported by the parsimony analysis. In our morphology-based parsimony analysis, Pseudimares is the sister taxon of Stilbopteryx and Aeropteryx, which makes the traditional Palparinae paraphyletic. This result is further supported by our phylogenetic reconstruction based on molecular data, which found a clade including Pseudimares and Stilbopteryx, which is nested within the traditional Palparinae. The high genetic distances measured among the analysed taxa suggest that these groups quickly diverged in ancient times, although they remained morphologically homogeneous. In conformity with the results of the phylogenetic analyses, we propose a new classification scheme for antlions, one that merges Stilbopteryx and Aeropteryx into an expanded concept of the subfamily Palparinae