Owlfly
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Owlflies Fossil range: Late Jurassic - Recent |
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Male Ascalaphus libelluloides
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Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Subfamilies | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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
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
[edit] References
- BugGuide.net (2006): Family Ascalaphidae - Owlflies. Version of 2006-SEP-19. Retrieved 2008-APR-24.
- Engel, Michael S. & Grimaldi, David A. (2007): The neuropterid fauna of Dominican and Mexican amber (Neuropterida, Megaloptera, Neuroptera). American Museum Novitates 3587: 1-58. PDF fulltext
- Foltz, John L. (2004): ENY 3005 Family Identification - Neuroptera: Ascalaphidae. Version of 2004-AUG-10. Retrieved 2008-APR-24.
- Haaramo, Mikko (2008): Mikko's Phylogeny Archive: Neuroptera. Version of 2008-MAR-11. Retrieved 2008-APR-27.
- Saad, Brooke & Lindsey, Pickens (2004): Ululodes quadrimaculatus, "Owlfly". Retrieved 2008-APR-24.