Ithonidae
| Ithonidae Temporal range: Ypresian–Recent | |
|---|---|
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| Allorapisma chuorum holotype | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Neuroptera |
| Suborder: | Hemerobiiformia |
| Superfamily: | Ithonioidea |
| Family: | Ithonidae Newman, 1838 |
| Genera | |
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| Synonyms | |
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Rapismatidae | |
The Ithonidae or moth lacewings are a small family of winged insects of the insect order Neuroptera. This family contains a total of nine genera, seven living and two extinct. The modern moth lacewings have a notably disjunct distribution while the extinct genera had a more global range. The family is considered one of the most primitive living neuropteran families. Along with the giant lacewings, moth lacewings may be phytophagous.
Description and ecology
Ithonidae are typically medium size neuropterans that are similar in appearance to the related family Polystoechotidae.[1] Robert J. Tillyard first described in 1922 the larvae of Ithone fusca noting the unusual grub like shape, similar to fruit-chafers and june beetles, as unique among Neuroptera species.[2] The odd larval shape of Ithionidae larvae has been, and continues to be, a subject of interest among entomologists. Tillyard suggested the larvae to be carnivorous, preying upon Scarabaeidae larvae, attacking with the large mandibles and "sucking them dry".[2] Further study by Faulkner in 1990 has shown the immature Ithonidae to be phytophagous, a condition unique among neuropterans.[2] The genus Rapisma was formerly considered distinct from the Ithonidae and placed in the monotypic family Rapismatidae. Recent studies have favored inclusion into Ithonidae, while this is not always followed, it has been supported by recent phylogenetic work.[3][4]
Range
Modern Ithonidae genera are distributed in both the western and eastern hemispheres with one species in the Nearctic ecozone, and two in the Neotropical ecozone of the western hemisphere. Of the genera in the eastern hemisphere, three are found in Australasia and one in Indomalaya. The habitats are varied with the genera falling into two general groups, arid taxa and forest taxa.[1] Those genera found in arid regions, Ithone, Varnia, Oliarces [1]
Systematics and taxonomy
Along with Polystoechotidae, Ithonidae are regarded as the most primitive living members of Neuroptera.[1] The clade formed by Ithonidae and Polystoechotidae forms a sister group to the remaining families in the suborder Hemerobiiformia.[2]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Archibald, S.B.; Makarkin V.N. (2006). "Tertiary Giant Lacewings (Neuroptera: Polystechotidae): Revision and Description of New Taxa From Western North America and Denmark". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 4 (2): 119–155. doi:10.1017/S1477201906001817. Retrieved January 27, 2010.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Grebennikov, V. (2004). "Grub-like larvae of Neuroptera (Insecta): a morphological review of the families Ithonidae and Polystoechotidae and a description of Oliarces clara". European Journal of Entomology 101: 409–417. Retrieved January 27, 2010.
- ↑ Vladimir N. Makarkin & S. Bruce Archibald (2009). "A new genus and first Cenozoic fossil record of moth lacewings (Neuroptera: Ithonidae) from the Early Eocene of North America". Zootaxa 2063: 55–63.
- ↑ Winterton, Shaun L.; Makarkin V.N. (2010). "Phylogeny of Moth Lacewings and Giant Lacewings (Neuroptera: Ithonidae, Polystoechotidae) Using DNA Sequence Data, Morphology, and Fossils" (PDF). Annals of the Entomological Society of America 103 (4): 511–522.
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