Apertochrysa zelleri ( Schneider, 1851 )

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 : 81

Apertochrysa zelleri ( Schneider, 1851)

Chrysopa zelleri Schneider, 1851 : original description

Chrysopa prasina zelleri Schneider, 1851 : Principi, 1956; Monserrat, 1977

Anisochrysa zelleri ( Schneider, 1851) : Hölzel & Ohm, 1972

Mallada zelleri ( Schneider, 1851) : Canard, 1987

Dichochrysa zelleri ( Schneider, 1851) : Aspöck & Hölzel, 1996

Pseudomallada zelleri ( Schneider, 1851) : Monserrat, 2016

Apertochrysa zelleri ( Schneider, 1851) : Breitkreuz et al., 2021

Diagnosis: Available live-colored material: 40♀, 25♂ ( Switzerland, Italy, France)

The smallest species of the prasina group in Europe, with female wing lengths 10.5–13.5 mm, male wing length 9.0– 12.5 mm. Body coloration grass-green, bright green, or bluish-green. Palps with dark tips. Frons, scape and clypeus whitish. The interantennal spot roundish, pear- or bell-shaped, sometimes triangular. Subantennal sutures brown, black, or rarely red.

Scape with prominent lateral black stripe. Two brown or reddish-brown spots on a yellow vertex ( Fig. 6 ). Costal crossveins on forewings completely black, with only 4–6 setae in females and 4–5 setae in males (non furwings). Veins around the im cell 30–70% black, black portion mostly in several pieces (see Fig. 10 ). All gradate crossveins darker than longitudinal veins, often extensively black. Usually one pair of reddish-brown or brown spots on dorsal pronotum, and three large reddish, brown or black lateral spots on prothorax. Usually one large pair of brown or black spots on most abdominal tergites. Lateral abdominal stripes present on fewer than half of the specimens. Twothirds of both females and males had a pale ventral abdomen; in the others it was green.

Distribution: This species largely occurs in the Mediterranean, but its distribution appears to be moving north; south-central Europe, western Asia.

Figures

FIGURE 6. Apertochrysa zelleri with two brown spots on vertex. Barely visible: lateral scape stripe, red suture, im cell with 30% black, in one piece (female from Agarone, Ticino, Switzerland).

FIGURE 10. Percentage of black in the three veins forming the intramedian cell. Low percentage is usually a black part in one piece, with increasing darkness the number also of black parts increases. The blue bars indicate the range for each species.