Nevrorthus fallax (Rambur, 1842)

Aspoeck, Ulrike, Aspoeck, Horst & Liu, Xingyue, 2017, The Nevrorthidae, mistaken at all times: phylogeny and review of present knowledge (Holometabola, Neuropterida, Neuroptera), Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift 64 (2), pp. 77-110 : 82

Nevrorthus fallax (Rambur, 1842) Figs 3b; 6a, f–g; 14

Mucropalpus fallax Rambur, 1842: 422 (odescr).

Sartena amaena Hagen, 1864: 41 (odescr). McLachlan 1881 (nom).

Neurorthus fallax (Rambur): McLachlan 1881 (nom); 1898 (com); Klapálek 1917 (descr, distr, figs: wings, gs male); Esben-Petersen 1913 (distr); Lestage 1924 (syst); Kimmins 1930 (distr); Nakahara 1958 (charact, figs wings, gs male, female); Zwick 1967 (ecol, compmorphol, syst, figs: gs male, la); Gaumont 1976 (anat); H. Aspöck et al. 1977 (tax); Tjeder 1979 (tax); H. Aspöck et al. 1980 (mon); U. Aspöck and H. Aspöck 1983 (distr); Malicky 1984 (ecol, distr, tax, figs: la); Letardi 1994 (distr).

Nevrorthus fallax (Rambur): Leraut 1981 (distr); Pantaleoni 1994 (distr); Iori et al. 1995 (distr); H. Aspöck and Hölzel 1996 (distr); U. Aspöck and H. Aspöck 1999 (fig: la); H. Aspöck et al. 2001 (annotcat); U. Aspöck and H. Aspöck 2007 (fig: distrmap); Letardi et al. 2008 (rec); U. Aspöck and H. Aspöck 2010a (biogeogr, fig: distrmap); Monserrat and Gavira 2014 (figs: gs, adult).

Type locality.

Italy (Sardinia).

Male.

Body length 2.2 mm; forewing length 6.0-8.0 mm, hindwing length 5.5-6.5 mm.

Head yellowish, dark brown line at middle. Antennae pale yellow, scapus and pedicellus brownish. Mouthparts yellow.

Prothorax yellow; meso- and metathorax darker. Legs yellow. Wings hyaline, membrane uncoloured; forewing veins yellowish; hindwing veins pale yellow, paler than in forewing.

Abdomen dorsally dark brown with yellow pattern, ventrally brown. Gonocoxites 9 as huge plates, gonostyli 9 digitiform, gonapophyses 9 processus-like; ectoproct broadly rounded. Complex of gonocoxites + gonostyli + gonapophyses 10 amalgamated with sternite 9, forming a pseudoapex of the latter and framing it laterally, terminally sinuated. Gonocoxites 11 fused into a bow-like bridge.

Female.

Body length 2.4 mm; forewing length 7.4-7.9 mm, hindwing length 7.6-7.8 mm.

Fused gonocoxites 8 forming a broad trapezoid sclerite; fused gonapophyses 8 triangular; gonocoxites 9 club-shaped, without distinct gonostyli; bursa copulatrix comprising a sclerotized structure.

Specimens examined and records published.

Supplementary material 1. Original type(s) lost. Herewith, a male is designated as neotype: “6.6.– 11.6. 1978, Sardinien (I) Monti di Gennargentu 700m 40°06'N / 9°32'E, H.u.L. Hölzel leg." (NHMW).

Biology and ecology.

Adults have been taken from March–October, most specimens were collected in June. The known vertical distribution is 70-1050 m. The larva is known and has been described ( Zwick 1967). Larvae inhabit the stony bottom of cold (5-10°C) swiftly running mountain brooks ( Zwick 1967), We have, however, found the species in Sardinia also at the estuary of a river a few meters above sea level. Malicky (1984) reports findings of larvae in waters with temperature 10.7-20.1°C (Sardinia) and 8.6-21.4°C (Corsica).

Distribution.

Italy (Sardinia), France (Corsica).