Owlfly

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Owlflies
Fossil range: Late Jurassic - Recent
Male Ascalaphus libelluloides
Male Ascalaphus libelluloides
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Class: Insecta
Subclass: Pterygota
Infraclass: Neoptera
Superorder: Endopterygota or Neuropterida
Order: Neuroptera
Suborder: Myrmeleontiformia
Superfamily: Myrmeleontoidea
Family: Ascalaphidae
Subfamilies
  • Albardiinae
  • Ascalaphinae
  • Haplogleniinae

and see text

Owlflies are dragonfly-like insects with large bulging eyes and long knobbed antennae. They are not true flies, but rather neuropterans in the family Ascalaphidae, and as such are not closely related to the true flies at all.

Owlflies are readily distinguished from dragonflies because the latter have short bristle-like antennae. The closely related ant-lions, family Myrmeleontidae, have short, clubbed antennae, smaller eyes, and very different wing venation[1]. The sole living member of the subfamily Albardiinae, the Brazilian Albardia furcata, also has short, clubbed antennae, but its typical reticulate ascalaphid ^wing venation demonstrates its actual relationships.

[edit] Ecology

An adult owlfly resting on a twig. Notice the long knobbed antennae and large divided eyes
An adult owlfly resting on a twig. Notice the long knobbed antennae and large divided eyes
Owlflies are attracted to bright lights at night
Owlflies are attracted to bright lights at night

Adult owlflies are aerial predators feeding on other insects. When disturbed, some owlflies will release a strong, musk-like, chemical to deter an enemy. Adults of many New World species are most active at sunset and dawn and can often be collected around lights. During the day, such adults rest on stems and twigs with the body, legs, and antennae pressed to the stem. The abdomen in a few species is held up, projecting into the air, to look like a broken twig. Many Old World species, however, are most active during the day, and are brightly colored - many even hold their wings spread at rest like dragonflies. Most owlflies average about 2 inches in length. Adult Ululodes have large divided eyes, which is where the common name "Owlfly" came from, in addition to their crepuscular habits. Owlflies are worldwide in distribution, though in North America they are primarily southerly.[2]

Eggs are laid on twigs or under stones. Larvae are predatory, and lie on the ground or in vegetation, covered with debris, waiting for prey. Larvae resemble those of ant-lions, but have a "finger-like appendage" on the side of each segment. Some genera actively cement sand and debris onto their bodies as camouflage. Pupation occurs in a spheroidal silk cocoon in leaf litter.[3]

[edit] Systematics

The owlflies are most closely related to the antlions (Myrmeleontidae) and the prehistoric Babinskaiidae, and these three make up the most advanced group of Neuroptera. In addition to the three subfamilies, the genus Cordulecerus is of undetermined placement. The Albardiinae may well be the basalmost living lineage of owlflies, and arguably Albardia furcata might be placed in the Ascalaphidae without a subfamily to denote this.[4]

On the other hand, the owlflies are an ancient group, dating back to the mid-Mesozoic at least. A number of fossil owlflies and owlfly larvae have been found, often encased in amber. Most of these also cannot be placed in a particular subfamily. Most are known from the Oligocene; the Late Jurassic Mesascalaphus may be an entirely more basal member of the family. Fossil owlfly genera incertae sedis include:[5]

  • Ascaloptynx
  • Borgia
  • Mesascalaphus
  • Neadelphus
  • Prosuhpalacsa
  • Ricartus

Cratopteryx is probably a member of the Myrmeleontoidea and being of Early Cretaceous age would possibly belong in some named family of these. Sometimes assigned to the Ascalaphidae, it is better considered incertae sedis however.[5]

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ Foltz (2004)
  2. ^ Saad & Lindsey (2004)
  3. ^ BugGuide.net (2006)
  4. ^ See references in Haaramo (2008)
  5. ^ a b Engel & Grimaldi (2007)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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