lacewing n : any of two families of gauzy-winged insects (Chrysopidae and Hemerobiidae); larvae feed on insect pests such as aphids [syn: lacewing fly]

English

Etymology

lace + wing

Noun

1. any of several gauzy-winged insects of the families Chrysopidae and Hemerobiidae

Synonyms

• lacewing fly

For the obsolete concept of the Neuroptera including alderflies, dobsonflies, fishflies and snakeflies, see Neuropterida.

The insect order Neuroptera, or net-winged insects, includes the lacewings, mantidflies, antlions, and their relatives. The order contains some 4,000 species. Traditionally, the group that was once known as Planipennia, with the Neuroptera at that time also including alderflies, fishflies, dobsonflies and snakeflies, but these are now generally considered to be separate orders (the Megaloptera and Raphidioptera). Sometimes the name Neuropterida is used to refer to these three orders as a group. This is either placed at superorder rank, with the Endopterygota becoming an unranked clade above it, or the Endopterygota are maintained as a superorder, with an unranked Neuropterida being a part of them. Within the endopterygotes, the closest living relatives of the neuropteridan clade are the beetles. The common name lacewings is often used for the most widely known net-winges insects - the green lacewings (Chrysopidae) - but actually most members of the Neuroptera are referred to as some sort of "lacewing".

The adults of this order possess four membranous wings, with the forewings and hindwings about the same size, and with many veins. They have chewing mouthparts, and undergo complete metamorphosis.

Neuropterans first appeared during the Permian Period, and continued to diversify through the Mesozoic Era. During this time several unusually large forms evolved, especially in the extinct family Kalligrammatidae, often referred to as "the butterflies of the Jurassic" due to their large, patterned wings.

Life cycle and ecology

The larvae of most families are predators. Many chrysopids eat aphids and other pest insects, and have been used for biological control (either from commercial distributors but also abundant and widespread in nature). Larvae in various families cover themselves in debris (sometimes including dead prey insects) as camouflage, taken to an extreme in the ant lions, which bury themselves completely out of sight and ambush prey from "pits" in the soil. Larvae of some Ithonidae are root feeders, and larvae of Sisyridae are aquatic, and feed on freshwater sponges. A few mantispids are parasites of spider egg sacs.

As in other holometabolic orders, there is a pupal stage, generally enclosed in some form of cocoon composed of silk and soil or other debris. Adults of many groups are also predatory, but some do not feed, or consume only nectar.

Taxonomy and systematics

The understanding of neuropteran phylogeny has vastly improved since the mid-1990s, not the least courtesy of the ever-growing fossil record. In 1995, for example, it was simply known that the Megaloptera and Raphidioptera were not part of the Neuroptera in the strict sense, and the Mantispoidea and part of the Myrmeleontoidea were the only groups that could be confirmed by cladistic analysis. Though the relationships of some families remain to be fully understood, most major lineages of Neuropterida can nowadays be robustly placed in an evolutionary context.

Apart from a few groups that are quite basal or of uncertain position, the net-winged insects can be divided into two suborders, the Myrmeleontiformia and the Hemerobiiformia. The primitive Nevrorthidae, the most ancient group of living neuropterans, are sometimes considered a third suborder Nevrorthiformia or included in the Hemerobiiformia and more specifically in the Osmyloidea. But actually they are better considered a very basal lineage.

• Family Grammosmylidae (fossil)

Suborder Hemerobiiformia

• Incertae sedis
  • Family Osmylitidae (fossil, probably paraphyletic)
• Superfamily Ithonioidea
  • Family Ithonidae: moth lacewings (includes Rapismatidae)
  • Family Polystoechotidae: giant lacewings (formerly in Hemerobioidea)
• Superfamily Osmyloidea
  • Family Osmylidae: osmylids
  • Family Chrysopidae: green lacewings, stinkflies (formerly in Hemerobioidea, tentatively placed here)
• Superfamily Hemerobioidea
  • Family Hemerobiidae: brown lacewings
• Superfamily Coniopterygoidea
  • Family Coniopterygidae: dustywings
  • Family Sisyridae: spongillaflies (formerly in Osmyloidea, tentatively placed here)
• Superfamily Mantispoidea
  • Family Dilaridae: pleasing lacewings (formerly in Hemerobioidea)
  • Family Mantispidae: mantidflies
  • Family Mesithonidae (fossil, probably paraphyletic)
  • Family Rhachiberothidae: thorny lacewings
  • Family Berothidae: beaded lacewings

Suborder Myrmeleontiformia

• Superfamily Nemopteroidea
  • Family Kalligrammatidae (fossil)
  • Family Psychopsidae: silky lacewings (formerly in Hemerobioidea)
  • Family Nemopteridae: spoonwings, spoon-winged laceflies, thread-winged laceflies (formerly in Myrmeleontoidea)
• Superfamily Myrmeleontoidea
  • Family Osmylopsychopidae (fossil)
  • Family Nymphitidae (fossil)
  • Family Solenoptilidae (fossil, probably paraphyletic)
  • Family Brogniartiellidae (fossil)
  • Family Nymphidae: split-footed lacewings (includes Myiodactylidae)
  • Family Babinskaiidae (fossil)
  • Family Myrmeleontidae: antlions (includes Palaeoleontidae)
  • Family Ascalaphidae: owlflies, ascalaphids

Footnotes

References

• (2005): A remarkable kalligrammatid lacewing from the Upper Jurassic of Kazakhstan (Neuroptera: Kalligrammatidae). Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science 108(1): 59-62. DOI:10.1660/0022-8443(2005)108[0059:ARKLFT]2.0.CO;2 HTML abstract
• (2005): Evolution of the Insects. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-82149-5
• (2008): Mikko's Phylogeny Archive: Neuroptera. Version of 2008-MAR-11. Retrieved 2008-APR-27.
• (1995): Tree of Life Web Project: Neuroptera. Lacewings, antlions, owlflies, etc.
• (2004): New Lacewings (Neuroptera) from the Terminal Permian and Basal Triassic of Siberia. Paleontological Journal 38(S2): S197-S203. PDF fulltext

External links

• Illustrated database of Neuroptera (insects)