Tumeochrysa Needham, 1909

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

Genus Tumeochrysa Needham, 1909

Tumeochrysa Needham, 1909: 204 . Type species: Tumeochrysa indica Needham, 1909: 204 . Original designation and monotypy.

Chrysoplecta Navás, 1910a: 55 . Type species: Chrysoplecta immaculata Navás, 1910a: 56 . Monotypy.

Diagnosis. Body medium to large. Body length 13.0–21.0 mm, forewing length 15.0–27.0 mm, hindwing length 12.0– 25.5 mm. This genus is characterized by the presence of the broad head occasionally with markings, the broad scape sometimes with tubercles or concaved, the frons, clypeus and gena usually not marked, the not pointed terminal palpomere of maxillary and labial palpi, the thorax sometimes with irregular brown markings, the legs with dense setae and without spots, the meso- and metatibia with a spur at tip, the brown pretarsal claws with basal dilation, the long forewing without shadings, the indistinct pterostigma, the triangular or quadrate cell im, the 1st rs-psm crossvein located at 2/3 or 1/2 of im, the gradates in two to five divergent rows, the basal crossvein of inner gradate series usually not meeting Psm, the opened or closed cell dcc, the male sternum VIII not fused with IX, the elongated sternum IX, the tergum IX fused with ectoproct, the median arch of gonarcus with different shapes of projections and invaginations, the expanded lateral arm, the broad entoprocessus posteriorly with many long gonosetae on associated membrane, the arcessus rounded at base, the apically bilobed female subgenitale, the thin spermatheca, the short vela, the absence of the ventral impression, and the long coiled duct.

Distribution. Palearctic, Nearctic and Oriental regions.

Remarks. Garzón-Orduña et al. (2019) and Breitkreuz et al. (2022) reconstructed the phylogeny of Chrysopidae and found Tumeochrysa nested within Nineta . Nineta and Tumeochrysa appear to be very similar in external morphological and genital characters: the narrow and long wings, the thorax without distinct markings, the male sternum VIII not fused with IX, the elongated male sternum IX, the median arch of male gonarcus with projections, the broad entoprocessus, the absence of the female ventral impression, the broad subgenitale, etc. The most important difference between them is the number of gradate series: the gradates of forewing and hindwing of Nineta in two divergent rows, but in three to five in Tumeochrysa . In fact, the presence of more than two rows of gradates can be found in species of many genera, such as Retipenna , Chrysopidia , Apertochrysa , etc. Thus, it is not reliable to divide genera only based on number of rows of gradate series. The genital characters, especially the male genitalia, are more reliable for generic classification. Nineta and Tumeochrysa have very similar genital characters: the arcuate male gonarcus with forward projections on median arch, the broad entoprocessus posteriorly with many long gonosetae on associated membrane, the arcessus widest at base and attached with entoprocessus, the broad female subgenitale, the short vela, and the absence of the ventral impression. The phylogeny herein inferred also supports the monophyly of Nineta and Tumeochrysa and their sister-group relationship. However, we consider that Nineta and Tumeochrysa do not reach the criterion of generic differentiation and place Nineta Navás, 1912 as a subgenus into Tumeochrysa Needham, 1909 .

Key to subgenera of Tumeochrysa

1. Gradates of forewing and hindwing both in two divergent rows; cell dcc of forewing opened; male ectoproct not elongated........................................................................................ Nineta

Gradates of forewing and hindwing both in three to five divergent rows; cell dcc of forewing closed; male ectoproct elongated obviously................................................................................. Tumeochrysa