The larvae of European Myrmeleontidae (Neuroptera)
Author
Badano, Davide
davide.badano@gmail.com
Author
Pantaleoni, Roberto Antonio
r.pantaleoni@ise.cnr.it
text
Zootaxa
2014
2014-02-05
3762
1
1
71
journal article
5916
10.11646/zootaxa.3762.1.1
4577eacc-752d-4eb7-bf1b-6585f03d7d6a
1175-5326
4909357
68E063AB-2C09-4FCA-8761-FBC73D562990
Tribe
Nesoleontini
Markl, 1954
Diagnosis of 3
rd
instar larva.
Head capsule without prominent ocular tubercles; mandibles equipped with 3 teeth; median tooth longer than the other teeth; external margin of the mandible with long setae; labial palpi fourarticulated, segments 2–4 longer than the basal width of the mandible. Mesothoracic spiracles raised on a very short tubercle. Thorax and abdomen provided with sessile setiferous processes. Metathoracic legs with a fringe of setae. VIII abdominal sternite with odontoid processes; IX abdominal sternite wider than long, with prominent rastra.
Biological notes.
Pit-builder antlions also able to perform ambush hunting, they can move both forward and backward.
Comments.
The tribe
Nesoleontini
comprises only 3 genera; two of them are limited to the Afrotropical region, while
Cueta
is widespread in the Old World (
Stange 2004
). The larvae are extremely similar to those of
Myrmecaelurini
, from which they differ only in small details, suggesting a close relationship between these two tribes set apart due to some adult characters, notably genitalia.