A hidden treasure along Silk Roads: An unexpected new species of spoon-winged lacewings from Xinjiang, China, and a revision of the genus Brevistoma Tjeder, 1967 (Neuroptera: Nemopteridae) Author Zheng, Yuchen 0000-0003-2397-2008 Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China. & Institut de Systématique, Évolution, Biodiversité (ISYEB), Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, EPHE, Université des Antilles, CP 50, 45 rue Buffon 75005 Paris, France. & Department of Entomology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China. zhengyuchenantlion@gmail.com Author Ni, Ziyang 0009-0008-7656-6891 School of Electrical and Information Engineering, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China. 1150663053@qq.com Author Aspöck, Ulrike 0000-0003-1912-2609 Department of Evolutionary Biology, University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria / Zoological Department II, Natural History Museum of Vienna, 1010 Vienna, Austria. ulrike.aspoeck@nhm-wien.ac.at Author Aspöck, Horst 0000-0001-9407-3566 Institute of Specific Prophylaxis and Tropical Medicine, Medical Parasitology, Medical University of Vienna (MUW), 1090 Vienna, Austria. horst.aspoeck@meduniwien.ac.at Author Badano, Davide 0000-0001-9715-3107 Department of Life Sciences, University of Siena, Via Aldo Moro 2, I- 53100 Siena, Italy. davide.badano@unisi.it Author Nel, André 0000-0002-4241-7651 Institut de Systématique, Évolution, Biodiversité (ISYEB), Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, EPHE, Université des Antilles, CP 50, 45 rue Buffon 75005 Paris, France. anel@mnhn.fr Author Liu, Xingyue Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China. & Department of Entomology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China. text Zootaxa 2025 2025-01-07 5566 1 97 118 https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5566.1.4 journal article 10.11646/zootaxa.5566.1.4 1175-5326 14612939 0BB43625-F628-4D0F-A98E-52E2337F14D6 Brevistoma bourboni ( Navás, 1931 ) stat. rev. ( Figs 1B ; 5 ; 11C ; 12 ) Savigniella bourboni Navás, 1931: 116 ( type locality: “Komadoucou Yobé, de Mainé Sovoa a Bosso” = Niger : Diffa , Komadougou Yobé (river), between Mainé Soroa and Bosso; lectotype in MNHN). Tjeder, 1967: 369 ( Brevistoma ). Güsten, 2003: 136 (as a synonym of B. bardii ). Diagnosis. Vertex barely raised, generally brown, anteriorly pale. Male antenna nearly half length of forewing. Frons and gena pale. Pronotum yellowish brown, with a pair of curved dark brown stripes. Mesoprescutum anteriorly dark brown, posteriorly yellowish brown; mesonotum laterally with a pair of dark brown stripes; mesoscutellum with a reverse T-shaped dark brown marking. Forewing generally hyaline. Hind wing mostly hyaline, distal part of hind wing with two brown marking. Male posterior gonocoxites 9 trapezoid falcate and protruded caudally, internal projection oblique inward protruded in lateral view. Re-description. Size . Head width, 2.13 mm ; forewing length, 20.62 mm ; hind wing length, 39.66 mm . FIGURE 4. Brevistoma bardii ( Navás, 1914 ) . A: Part of habitus, from Errachidia (Morocco). B: Distal hind wing, male, from Ouarzazate (Morocco). C: Distal hind wing, female, Errachidia (Morocco). D: Head and thorax, lateral view, from Laghouat (Algeria). E: Head and thorax, dorsal view, from Tunisia. F: Head, frontal view, male, from Ghardaia (Algeria). F: Head, frontal view, female, from Laghouat (Algeria). Male terminalia, from Ghardaia (Algeria): H. Lateral view. I. Ventral view. Female terminalia, from Laghouat (Algeria): J. Lateral view. K. Ventral view. Male genitalia, from Ghardaia (Algeria): L. Caudal view. M. Ventral view. N. Cephalic view. O. Lateral view. P. dorsal view. FIGURE 5. Brevistoma bourboni ( Navás, 1931 ) stat. rev. , male, lectotype. A: Part of habitus. B: Distal hind wing, male. C: Head and thorax, lateral view. D: head and thorax, dorsal view. E: head, frontal view, male. F: Male terminalia, lateral view. Head . Vertex barely raised, generally brown, anteriorly pale. Male antenna nearly half length of forewing; scape and pedicel pale yellow; flagellum brown, covered with many short-tapered setae. Each flagellomere wider than long in male ( Fig. 11C ). Frons pale, medially with a pair of brown spots; male frons nearly half as long as wide. Gena pale. Male clypeus brown, as long as wide. Labrum brown, truncated on distal margin. Maxillary palpus columniform. Labial palpus slender. Cardo and stipe pale yellow. Mandibles yellowish brown, elongate. Rostrum nearly as long as half of head width ( Figs 5D–E ). Thorax . Yellowish brown with some dark brown markings. Pronotum with a pair of curved dark brown stripes. Mesoprescutum anteriorly dark brown, posteriorly yellowish brown; mesonotum laterally with a pair of dark brown stripes; mesoscutellum with a reverse T-shaped dark brown marking. Metanotum extremely short. Meso- and metapleurae generally pale yellow ( Fig. 5D ). Legs . Slender, generally pale yellow. Tibial spur weakly developed. Tarsomeres 2–4 with some stout setae ventrally; pretarsal claws dark reddish brown, slightly curved ( Fig. 5C ). Wings . Forewing generally hyaline, apex rounded; subcostal area and pterostigma pale yellow; costal crossveins not forked; 12–14 presectoral crossveins present; RP with four branches; 3A not closed to forewing margin. Hind wing slender, ribbon-like, nearly twice as long as forewing, mostly hyaline; distal part of hind wing with two dark brown markings; pterostigma brown ( Figs 1B ; 5A–B ). Abdomen . Pale yellow, laterally with a pair of dark brown stripes. Male genitalia (mainly based on Tjeder, 1967 ). Sternum 9 nearly twice as long as ectoproct, rectangular in ventral view, covered with some slender setae ( Fig. 5F ). Anterior gonocoxites 9 short, nearly as long as gonostyli 11 in lateral view, V-shaped in ventral view; posterior gonocoxites 9 trapezoid falcate and protruded caudally, internal projection oblique inward protruded in lateral view; gonocoxites 11 thick arched, medially with some short setae; gonostyli 11 swollen, as a pair of wide lingulate processes, slender and upward in lateral view. Ectoproct subtriangular in lateral view. Female genitalia . Unknown. Type material examined. Lectotype ♂ , “Komadoucou Yobé, de Mainé Sovoa a Bosso , Prince Sixte de Bourbon , 1929” = NIGER : Diffa , Komadougou Yobé (river), between Mainé Soroa and Bosso ( MNHN ). Distribution. Niger ( Diffa ). Remarks. Güsten (2003) treated B. bourboni as a junior synonym of B. bardii , although he did not provide a morphological support for his statements. Nevertheless, B. bourboni is characterized by significant differences from the specimens of L. bardii that were examined by us. In B. bourboni , the anterior vertex, gena and frons are pale, the paired stripes on pro- and mesonotum are distinct, and the mesoscutellum has a distinct reverse T-shaped dark brown marking; while in L. bardii , the anterior vertex and the frons are pale yellow, the paired stripes on pro- and mesonotum are indistinct, and the mesoscutellum has no marking. Moreover, the type locality of B. bourboni is in the southern part of Niger (Maine Sovoa), an area of semi-arid Sahel Savanna, while the type locality of B. bardii is located in Libya ( Al Kufrah ), in the central Sahara Desert. These two regions are far apart. For these reasons, the treatment of Güsten (2003) is not plausible, and we hereby restore the validity of B. bourboni stat. rev.