Apochrysa Schneider, 1851

Winterton, Shaun L. & Gupta, Ankita, 2020, Review of the green lacewing genus Apochrysa Schneider (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae), Zootaxa 4729 (3), pp. 329-346 : 332-334

Genus Apochrysa Schneider

Apochrysa Schneider, 1851: 157 . Type species: Hemerobius leptaleus Rambur, 1842: 429 .

Synthochrysa Needham, 1909: 202 . Type species: Hemerobius stigma Girard, 1862: 609 .

Nacaura Navás, 1913a: 280 . Type species: Apochrysa matsumurae Okamoto, 1912: 13 .

Oligochrysa Esben-Petersen, 1914: 639 . Type species: Oligochrysa gracilis Esben-Petersen, 1914: 639 . Anapochrysa Kimmins, 1952: 932 . Type species: Anapochrysa africana Kimmins, 1952: 933 .

Lauraya Winterton, 1995: 139 . Type species: Lauraya retivenosa Winterton, 1995: 140 .

Common names. Delicate lacewings, exquisite lacewings.

Diagnosis. Body typically bright green with red suffusion laterally along prothorax and side of head; wings hyaline with green venation except in individual cases where few markings are present. Costal area with subcostal veinlets mostly simple (unforked) and lacking interconnecting cross-veins; wings with markings only along inner gradate series and (sometimes) pterostigma; rarely along posterior margin near hind wing apex, additional spot(s) not present in basal half of wing; RP relatively straight in both wings; single row of cells between RA and RP (rarely with additional irregular cross-veins, i.e., A. matsumurae ), cross-veins usually absent between RA and RP distally (i.e., behind pterostigma); forewing ‘ psc’ extending towards apex no more than 2/3 of total wing length; forewing 1A usually forked, 2A simple.

Distribution ( Fig. 5 ). South Africa, Tanzania, Rwanda, Kenya, Comoros Islands, Sao Tome, Madagascar, Japan, China (including Taiwan), eastern Australia, (including Norfolk Island), India, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands.

Comments. Aside from the nominal species, only three species included in the current definition of Apochrysa (sensu Winterton & Brooks, 2002) were originally described in the genus (i.e., A. evanida , A. matsumurae and A. wagneri ). Indeed, most were originally described in monotypic genera. Multiple authors identified distinct similarities amongst the collection of apochrysine species included here, some noting possible synonymies (e.g., Banks, 1931; Kimmins, 1952; Hölzel, 1992; Winterton, 1995). Indeed, using a phylogenetic framework, Winterton & Brooks (2002) formally synonymized Anapochrysa , Lauraya , Nacaura , Oligochrysa and Synthochrysa with Apochrysa , which continues the basis for the genus delimited here. Winterton (2006) also described an abnormally developed specimen of A. lutea , exhibiting significant irregularly formed variation in venation between the left and right pairs of wings, yet not apparently with any affects on flight ability. Winterton & Brooks (2002) suggested that considerable variation existed in the wing venation in the revised concept of Apochrysa , but we find that this variation may be overstated (the rare developmental abnormality described by Winterton (2006) in A. lutea notwithstanding), and quite within the expected variation found in other apochrysine and Chrysopidae genera. They found that several characteristics united the species of the genus, including the ‘ psc’ not extending beyond 2/3 of the total wing length towards the apex. Other characters which easily differentiate Apochrysa from other apochrysine genera include the wings being generally narrower and venation is relatively more open (fewer cross-veins), and that there are no cross-veins between RA and RP behind the pterostigma. Terminalia and internal genitalic features of Apochrysa are highly simplified compared with other chrysopids and remarkably uniform throughout the genus. Indeed, throughout Apochrysinae the genitalia are highly simplified and uniform and are of little taxonomic value ( Brooks & Barnard, 1990; Hölzel, 1996; Winterton, 1995). The only exception is A. leptalea , where the male genitalia appear to be very different to other Apochrysinae (see Brooks & Barnard, 1990: fig. 34).

Apochrysa typically inhabit relatively humid closed-forest habitats ( Tjeder, 1966; Tsukaguchi, 1995; Winterton, 1995, 2006) presumably due to the adults being poor fliers. Larvae are known for A. matsumurae , A. voeltzkowi and A. evanida ( Fig. 3 ); in all cases they are recorded as trash carriers with large packets of white sternorrhynchan flocculence (e.g. Tsukaguchi, 1995; Tauber 2014). Tauber (2014) provided a detailed description of A. voeltzkowi along with detailed discussion of characters of taxonomic significance.

Included species. A. cognata ( Kimmins, 1953) , A. evanida Gerstaecker, 1894 , A. leptalea ( Rambur, 1842) , A. lutea ( Walker, 1853) , A. matsumurae Okamoto, 1912 , A. montrouzieri ( Girard, 1862) , A. retivenosa ( Winterton, 1995) , A. salomonis ( Kimmins, 1951) , A. voeltzkowi ( Weele, 1909) , A. wagneri Hölzel, 1996 .

Figures

FIGURE 3. Apochrysa evanida Gerstaecker late instar larva, India (photo: Ankita Gupta).

FIGURE 5. Distribution of Apochrysa species.