Nineta Navás, 1912,

Wu, Jingyu & Liu, Xingyue, 2024, Systematics of the green lacewing tribe Ankylopterygini Navás, 1910 (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae: Chrysopinae) from China, Zootaxa 5540 (1), pp. 1-169 : 65-66

Subgenus Nineta Navás, 1912 stat. nov.

Nineta Navás, 1912: 98 . Type species: Hemerobius flavus Scopoli, 1763: 270 . Original designation.

Parachrysa Nakahara, 1915: 121 . Type species: Nothochrysa olivacea Gerstaecker, 1893: 166 . Original designation and monotypy.

Diagnosis. Body medium to large. Body length 12.0–21.0 mm, forewing length 15.0–27.0 mm, hindwing length 12.0– 25.5 mm. This subgenus is characterized by the presence of the broad head usually without spots, the wide and broad scape, the not pointed terminal palpomere of maxillary and labial palpi, the thorax usually without markings, the legs with dense setae and without spots, the meso- and metatibia with a spur at tip, the pretarsal claws with basal dilation, the broad forewing without shadings, the indistinct pterostigma, the ovoid cell im, the 1st rs-psm crossvein located at 2/3 or 1/2 of the cell im, the gradates in two divergent rows, the basal crossvein of inner gradate series usually not meeting Psm, the opened cell dcc, the male sternum VIII not fused with sternum IX, the elongated male sternum IX curved towards dorsal apically or not and with concentrated setae at tip, the tergum IX fused with ectoproct, the median arch with different shapes of invagination, the expanded lateral arms, the broad entoprocessus posteriorly with many long gonosetae on associated membrane, the arcessus rounded at base and often curved, the apically bilobed female subgenitale, the thin spermatheca, the short vela, the absence of the ventral impression, and the long coiled duct.

Distribution. Palearctic and Nearctic regions.

Remarks. Many species of this subgenus are very similar in external morphology, especially the species from China, and it is difficult to distinguish them directly by external morphology. Important identification characters of this subgenus include the length of male sternum IX, the shape of projections on median arch of male gonarcus, and the shape of female subgenitale.

Key to species of Nineta in China *

1. Gena with brown spots...................................................................... T. dolichoptera Gena without spots.................................................................................... 2

2. Almost all crossveins of forewing and hindwing brown; arcessus swollen at base and curved slightly.......... T. inpunctata All crossveins of forewing and hindwing pale; arcessus not swollen............................................. 3

3. Male sternum IX obviously elongated and longer than twice as long as tergum IX + ectoproct.......................... ................................................................................................... 4 Male sternum IX slightly elongated and obviously shorter than twice as long as tergum IX + ectoproct.................. 5

4. Median arch of male gonarcus with U-shaped invagination.............................................. T. vittata Median arch of male gonarcus with V-shaped invagination........................................ T. acuta sp. nov.

5. Outer gradate series of forewing darker than inner gradate series; median arch of male gonarcus with trapezoid invagination.................................................................................. T. grandis Inner gradate series of forewing darker than outer gradate series or all pale brown; median arch of male gonarcus with U-shaped invagination......................................................................................... 6

6. Inner gradate series of forewing darker than outer gradate series; male sternum IX long and curved; female subgenitale small and short................................................................................. T. shaanxiensis Gradate series of forewing pale brown; male sternum IX short and not curved; female subgenitale broad.... T. breva sp. nov.

* T. abunda ( Yang & Yang, 1989) is not included in the key.