Porrerus, Navas, 1913

ENGEL, MICHAEL S. & GRIMALDI, DAVID A., 2007, The Neuropterid Fauna of Dominican and Mexican Amber (Neuropterida: Megaloptera, Neuroptera), American Museum Novitates 3587, pp. 1-60 : 33-41

Porrerus larva: Grimaldi and Engel, 2005: 346,

fig. 9.20.

DESCRIPTION: Head length 1.2 mm; anteri- or width 0.8 mm; posterior width 0.46 mm; total body length 4.5 mm. Head, pronotum, and legs more strongly sclerotized than remainder of body. Head elongate and trapezoidal, anterior width approximately 1.75

times posterior width; without dolichasters; with numerous, scattered, elongate, black setae; dorsum of head very gently convex along posterior two-thirds, anterioly between mandibles strongly concave; venter of head relatively flat. Mandibles slightly upturned, longer than head, widely separated (separated by approximately 3.75 times basal mandibular

39. Forewing. 40. Hind wing. 41. Leg spination.

width); three teeth, first tooth situated about at midpoint of mandible, teeth progressively longer toward mandible apex, parallel; setae on outer margin of mandible longer than greatest width of mandible; fringe of appressed setae along outer basal margin of mandible. Labial palpus about as long as basal mandibular width. Ocular tubercle present, short (i.e., not prominent), cylindrical, without dolichasters. Antennal tubercle positioned close to ocular tubercle, separated by less than width, without dolichasters; apparently 18 antennal segments. Pronotum quadrangular, apparently about as wide as long. Mesothoracic spiracle sessile, situated between tubercles. Claws elongate and relatively straight, simple; legs with elongate, black setae, longer than leg width. Meso- and metathoracic and abdominal segments with transverse rows of elongate, black setae, such setae not borne on tubercles; more dense, shorter setae situated as a patch medially between meso- and metathoracic segments, such setae not arranged in rows. Body without scoli, with paired lateral tubercles each bearing numerous elongate setae. Eighth sternum with pair of small, submedian teeth near posterior margin; ninth sternum with numerous stout setae, without bladelike digging setae, with some shorter, stout setae borne on a common base near posterior margin and slightly upturned.

MATERIAL: Larva; MACT-1282 ( figs. 42 , 43 ), Miocene amber of the Dominican Republic. The specimen is preserved along with a scelionid wasp, a mite, a beetle larva, and a collembolan.

COMMENTS: The specimen is clearly an immature of the tribe Myrmeleontini as is evidenced by the combination of elongate mandibles, elongate mandibular setae, sessile mesothoracic spiracle, presence of submedian teeth on S8, and absence of bladelike digging setae on S9. Immatures of myrmeleontines are relatively homogeneous and characters separating the genera are presently not well defined. For this reason, confident assignment of this specimen to any genus of Myrmeleontini is tenuous but the presence of several adults of Porrerus (see above) is suggestive that this may be an immature of the same species. We have therefore tentatively assigned this immature to P. dominicanus .

FAMILY ASCALAPHIDAE RAMBUR

The owlflies, family Ascalaphidae , consist of approximately 430 species. The family is most diverse in both xeric and mountainous regions of the subtropics or tropics. Owlflies species are frequently large and some groups appear to represent a conglomeration of features from other orders of insects, overall sharing a superficial habitus with dragonflies. Female ascalaphids lay eggs in clusters on twigs or grass stems. The first-instar larvae aggregate at twig apices into a defensive ring. The larvae eventually disperse to live solitarily in the litter or on trees where they are generalist predators.

The geological record of Ascalaphidae is exceedingly sparse with four definitive ascalaphids previously proposed from Tertiary compression fossils in Europe and the Russian Far East, one species known only from the larva in Baltic amber, as well as one species dubiously assigned Lower Cretaceous fossil (table 9). Herein we describe the first adult ascalaphids in amber as well as larvae of two species of the genus Ululodes .

TABLE 9 Named Fossil Ascalaphidae a

Interestingly, the fossil species are representative of two of the three known subfamilies: Ascalaphinae ( Ululodes paleonesia , new species) and Haplogleniinae ( Amoea electrodominica , new species).

Figures

Fig. 9. Photomicrograph of holotype of Dicromantispa moronei, new species (MACT-432).

Fig. 42. Photomicrograph of immature of Porrerus dominicanus Stange and Poinar (MACT-1282).

Fig. 43. Habitus of immature of Porrerus dominicanus Stange and Poinar (MACT-1282).