Ascalaphus Fabricius, 1775

Hassan, Muhammad Asghar & Liu, Xingyue, 2021, Taxonomic notes on owlflies from Pakistan (Neuroptera: Myrmeleontidae Ascalaphinae), Zootaxa 4970 (3), pp. 401-452 : 407

publication ID

https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.4970.3.1

publication LSID

lsid:zoobank.org:pub:50B110AA-35A4-4F96-9C00-22C6F63BF463

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6486820

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/7E390905-FF9C-4145-FF3C-26A24FD1FA49

treatment provided by

Plazi

scientific name

Ascalaphus Fabricius, 1775
status

 

Genus Ascalaphus Fabricius, 1775 View in CoL View at ENA

Ascalaphus Fabricius, 1775: 313 View in CoL . Type species: Myrmeleon barbarum Linnaeus, 1767: 914 . Monotypy.

Helicomitus McLachlan, 1873a: 261 . Type species: Ascalaphus insimulans Walker, 1853: 429 View in CoL . Subsequent designated by McLachlan, 1873b: 402.

Diagnosis. Ascalaphus can be characterized by the combination of the following characters: wing membrane hyaline, without markings ( Figs 4A–C View FIGURE 4 , 5A–C View FIGURE 5 ); pterostigma dark brown to light brownish, usually wider than long, rhomboid-shaped; apical area beyond Sc+R with two rows of cells; forewing without triangular projection on the anal area. Moreover, the proximal 1/3 of flagellomeres in male with distinctly S-shaped ( Fig. 6D View FIGURE 6 ), but straight in female ( Fig. 6E View FIGURE 6 ); the mesoscutum anteromedially with a brownish triangular process (more prominent in male but smaller in female) ( Figs 6A–B View FIGURE 6 ); the abdominal terga 4–6 with or without dense, long black setae in male ( Figs 4A–C View FIGURE 4 ), absent in female ( Figs 5A–C View FIGURE 5 ).

Note. To date, eight species of the genus Ascalaphus have been recorded from Asia and Pacific Islands ( Sziráki 1998). Two of them, i.e., A. abdominalis ( Kimmins, 1949) and A. dicax Walker, 1853 from Pakistan, were listed as present in the National Museums of Scotland by Whittington (2002), but without precise location data. However, Ascalaphus abdominalis and A. dicax are widely distributed in India ( Fig. 27 View FIGURE 27 ). Despite no precise location, it is possible to infer that it was collected in the Punjab province because of the distribution data of these species from the neighbouring countries, i.e., India and Iran. No new specimens were recorded in this study. The finding of A. prothoracicus ( Kimmins, 1949) is a new record for Pakistan; the species was originally described from India by Kimmins (1949) and placed in the genus Helicomitus . Tjeder later (1972) considered Helicomitus as synonym of Ascalaphus ( Oswald & Penny 1991) . Prior to this study A. prothoracicus was known only from India and Thailand ( Ghosh 1988; Michel 2005).

Key to Ascalaphus species from Pakistan

1. Mesonotum anteromedially with a distinct brownish triangular process in male ( Fig. 6A View FIGURE 6 ), relatively smaller in female ( Fig. View FIGURE 6 6B)........................................................................... A. prothoracicus (Kimmins) View in CoL

_. Mesonotum without any process (Kimminis, 1949: figs 1A, E [A = dixcax; E = abdominalis View in CoL ])........................ .. 2

2. Tergum 4 with a median dilation in lateral view, densely covered with short black setae ( Kimmins, 1949: fig. 3)......................................................................................... A. abdominalis (Kimmins) View in CoL

_. Tergum 4 without dilation, covered with short black setae.......................................... A. dicax Walker View in CoL

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Arthropoda

Class

Insecta

Order

Neuroptera

Family

Ascalaphidae

Loc

Ascalaphus Fabricius, 1775

Hassan, Muhammad Asghar & Liu, Xingyue 2021
2021
Loc

Helicomitus

McLachlan, R. 1873: 261
McLachlan, R. 1873: 402
Walker, F. 1853: 429
1873
Loc

Ascalaphus

Fabricius, J. C. 1775: 313
Linnaeus, C. 1767: 914
1775
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