The Larvae of European Ascalaphidae (Neuroptera) Author Badano, Davide Author Pantaleoni, Roberto Antonio text Zootaxa 2014 2014-05-19 3796 2 287 319 journal article 5602 10.11646/zootaxa.3796.2.4 e0da9034-33f3-4508-aae5-c5dbeb2ee4c3 1175-5326 4915173 D64A7C50-26ED-4D39-B376-2200CCCB138E Puer Lefèbvre, 1842 Diagnosis. Head capsule one and a half times wider than long; antennae thin, longer than the ocular tubercles; ocular tubercles small, flattened, wider than long and forward directed; opening gap of the jaws larger than 180°; mandibles closely approximated at the insertion; mandibles narrow, armed with three pairs of teeth and with numerous pseudo-teeth; median tooth larger than the other teeth and closer to the apical tooth; base of the mandible covered with hair-like dolichasters; labial palpi four-articulated, segments 2–4 as long as the basal width of the mandible, last segment swollen; thorax provided with elongated and flattened scolus-like processes; mesothorax bearing two pairs of scolus-like processes of which the anterior ones are bent at 90°; metathorax with an anterior pair of large scolus-like processes and a posterior pair of very short tubercle-like processes; first pair of abdominal spiracles placed on the dorsal side, the following seven pairs on ventral side; abdomen with eight pairs of dorsal scolus-like setiferous processes, ventral series absent except a pair of tubercle-like setiferous processes on the first abdominal segment; VIII sternite without odontoid processes; IX sternite with two short rastra each bearing three digging setae ( Fig. 2C ); body thickly covered with short, pale dolichasters ( Fig. 3C ); long and thin dolichasters are present on the setiferous processes. Examined species. P. maculatus (Olivier, 1789) Comments. The genus Puer is exclusive of the Western Palaearctic Region, comprising two species: P. maculatus and P. algericus van der Weele, 1909 reported for South-Western Europe, North Africa and Middle East (U. Aspöck & H. Aspöck 1987 ; H. Aspöck et al. 2001 ; Badano & Pantaleoni 2012 ). The larva of this genus was exclusively treated by Hagen (1873) thought the validity of his account was questioned (H. Aspöck et al. 1980 ).