John D. Oswald

Lacewings and scale insects: A review of predator/prey associations between the Neuropterida and Coccoidea (Insecta: Neuroptera, Raphidioptera, Hemiptera)

Abstract Information on 263 Neuropterida/Coccoidea associations with additional detailed data on the most commonly encountered taxa is presented. Included for each entry, where applicable, is the predator, Coccoidea prey, validation source, prey plant host, and biogeographic origin.

ANNOTATED CATALOGUE OF THE DILARIDAE (INSECTA: NEUROPTERA) OF THE WORLD

The neuropteran family Dilaridae, ‘pleasing lacewings’, is a small family presently composed of 67 valid recent species, with a combined distribution encompassing parts of North and South America, Europe, Asia and Africa. Dilarids form a distinct clade within the order Neuroptera, and are characterized by males with pectinate antennae, females with elongate ovipositors (a feature that they share with raphidiopterans and some mantispids), and distinctive details of the terminalia in both sexes. Dilarids are relatively rare both in the field and in collections and are of no known economic importance. Immatures are associated with soil or dead wood. No fossil dilarids are currently known. The purpose of the present work is to provide a concise bibliographic, nomenclatural and taxonomic foundation for the family that can serve the twin aims of providing an entry point into the scattered dilarid literature and a stimulus for further systematics study of the group.

Evolution of lacewings and allied orders using anchored phylogenomics (Neuroptera, Megaloptera, Raphidioptera)

Analysis of anchored hybrid enrichment (AHE) data under a variety of analytical parameters for a broadly representative sample of taxa (136 species representing all extant families) recovered a well‐resolved and strongly supported tree for the higher phylogeny of Neuropterida that is highly concordant with previous estimates based on DNA sequence data. Important conclusions include: Megaloptera is sister to Neuroptera; Coniopterygidae is sister to all other lacewings; Osmylidae, Nevrorthidae and Sisyridae are recovered as a monophyletic Osmyloidea, and Rhachiberothidae and Berothidae were recovered within a paraphyletic Mantispidae. Contrary to previous studies, Chrysopidae and Hemerobiidae were not recovered as sister families and morphological similarities between larvae of both families supporting this assumption are reinterpreted as symplesiomorphies. Relationships among myrmeleontoid families are similar to recent studies except Ithonidae are placed as sister to Nymphidae. Notably, Ascalaphidae render Myrmeleontidae paraphyletic, again calling into question the status of Ascalaphidae as a separate family. Using statistical binning of partitioned loci based on a branch‐length proxy, we found that the diversity of phylogenetic signal across partitions was minimal from the slowest to the fastest evolving loci and varied little over time. Ancestral character‐state reconstruction of the sclerotization of the gular region in the larval head found that although it is present in Coleoptera, Raphidioptera and Megaloptera, it is lost early in lacewing evolution and then regained twice as a nonhomologous gula‐like sclerite in distantly related clades. Reconstruction of the ancestral larval habitat also indicates that the ancestral neuropteridan larva was aquatic, regardless of the assumed condition (i.e., aquatic or terrestrial) of the outgroup (Coleopterida).

A new brachypterous Nusalala species from Costa Rica, with comments on the evolution of flightlessness in brown lacewings (Neuroptera: Hemerobiidae)

Abstract. A new flightless hemerobiid species, Nusalala brachyptera, collected at high elevation in Costa Rica, is described and illustrated, and a variety of data relevant to the evolution of flightlessness in the family Hemerobiidae are reviewed. Flightlessness due to brachyptery has evolved independently in at least five monophyletic [= holophyletic] lineages of the family Hemerobiidae (brown lacewings). Volant hemerobiids are primarily foliage foraging arboreal predators [presumed ancestral condition], while flightless species are predominantly associated with terricolous‐type microhabitats (e.g. ground‐litter, epiphytic mosses) [presumed derived condition]. These differences suggest a significant habitat shift for flightless hemerobiid species, and that the parallel evolution of flightlessness and brachyptery in hemerobiids are shared responses to the conditions of a terricolous existence. The restriction of most flightless hemerobiid species to insular and/or montane/alpine land areas may be related to the typically depauperate nature of the faunas of such areas. This faunal characteristic may facilitate transitions from arboreality to terricolousness by presenting ancestrally arboreal predators such as hemerobiids with novel ecological opportunities in terricolous microhabitats.