Apertochrysa ‘Ap1’

Duelli, Peter & Henry, Charles S., 2022, The Apertochrysa prasina group (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae), with a key to the European species, Zootaxa 5134 (1), pp. 61-91 : 79

Apertochrysa ‘Ap1’ (temporary name)

‘greenhead’ partim (Duelli and Obrist, 2020)

‘pp1’ (Duelli and Henry, 2021)

Diagnosis: Available live-colored material: 26♀, 30♂ ( Italy, France, Greece) .

A medium-sized Mediterranean species with a bright green or grass-green body ( Figs. 2 and 11 ). Tips of palps dark brown. Face whitish. Subantennal sutures are usually brown or red, but in some populations in Liguria ( Italy) and Var ( France), specimens with pale green subantennal sutures were encountered. The interantennal spot is mostly roundish, often pear-shaped. There are no dots on the scape or on the yellow vertex. Female forewing length is 12.0–15.0 mm, in males 10.5–13.5 mm. The ccv are 30–70% dark. Males of Ap1 have no furwings, which clearly separates them from males of A. prasina and Ap2.

The im cell is 12–25% dark, usually in one piece. All gradate crossveins are darker than the longitudinal wing veins. The dorsal prothorax is marked with reddish-brown or brown spots, often on a pair of two longitudinal palebrown bands. The three lateral spots on the prothorax are reddish-brown or brown, the anteriormost one sometimes black. On most of the abdominal tergites there is a pair of reddish, brown, or rarely black spots. Sometimes there are two pairs of spots per segment. Lateral stripes on the abdomen are usually large, reddish-brown, brown, or rarely black. Females have a whitish ventral side of the abdomen, males a green one, usually with pale setae. The eggs are deposited singly. The larvae diapause as third instars.

Distribution: As known so far, the range of this species extends from southern Spain along the Mediterranean coast to Greece and Turkey. In coastal Italy and southern France, it seems to be the most abundant prasinoid lacewing species.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Apertochrysa Ap1 with dark palps, white face, red sutures, yellow vertex without spots (female from Follonica, Toscana, Italy).

FIGURE 11. Apertochrysa Ap1 with reddish-brown dorsal thorax spots, three lateral brown spots on prothorax, and bright yellow vertex (female from Cipressa, Liguria, Italy).