Spiloconis oediloma, ENGEL & GRIMALDI, 2007

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 : 19-22

Spiloconis oediloma , new species figures 19 , 20

DIAGNOSIS: This species differs from S. glaesaria by the smaller forewing length and body size ( fig. 19 ), the swollen basal flagellomere that is distinctly larger than the following segments, and the r-rs crossvein distad to the fork of Rs (thereby meeting R 2+3) ( fig. 20 ).

DESCRIPTION: Forewing length 1.85 mm; total body length 1.38 mm. Compound eyes not reduced, more than one-half of head height; gena only slightly narrower than compound eye in lateral view (the gena is considerably more narrow than the compound eye in S. glaesaria ); head brown. Antenna 23- segmented, uniformly dark brown; scape twice as long as broad; basal flagellomere distinctly larger than following flagellomeres; segments with two whorls of setae. Thorax dark brown; legs light brown. Forewing with dark markings faint but as described for S. glaesaria ; distal setae on M near junction of basal rs-m and cua-m crossveins; basal rs-m crossvein shortly beyond R/Rs fork; distal rs-m on R 4+5; sc-r crossvein confluent with r-rs crossvein, r-rs distad fork or Rs and meeting R 2+3 ( fig. 20 ).

HOLOTYPE: AMNH DR-14-1097 ( fig. 19 ), Miocene amber of the Dominican Republic.

ETYMOLOGY: The specific epithet is derived from the Greek word oidaleos (meaning ‘‘swollen’’) and is a reference to the enlarged basal flagellar segment.

FAMILY HEMEROBIIDAE LATREILLE

The family Hemerobiidae , the brown lacewings, consists of approximately 560 species distributed throughout the world. Species occur on vegetation as both adults and larvae, presumably owing to the occurrence of their principle prey (e.g., Sternorrhyncha) in these habitats. Larvae are predaceous and while adults are presumed to be as well, little information is available on their feeding habits. Some adults have been discovered eating honeydew.

Brown lacewings are not common in the fossil record (table 8), and a confident identity for those described in Baltic amber has yet to be achieved. The oldest hemerobiid is presently a single species from the Jurassic of Kazakhstan and shares at least a few synapomorphies typical of Tertiary and recent hemerobiids ( Oswald, 1993). Presently there are two species known in Dominican amber, one of which ( Notiobiella thaumasta Oswald ) appears to be more common than other Dominican neuropterid fossils.

The first amber hemerobiid discovered was of the Notiobiellinae and the nominate genus, in particular. The genus Notiobiella is widely distributed with species occurring in South and Central America, Africa, southeast Asia, Australia, and scattered Pacific islands. Of the approximately 36 described species, two occur today in the West Indies, and the fossil N. thaumasta is apparently most closely related to N. israeli from Cuba and Hispaniola ( Oswald, 1999). The second species is a new species of the Sympherobiinae . The species described below falls readily into the Sympherobiinae and Sympherobius except for one character (presence/absence of 4m-cu: see Comments below under the species). Sympherobius is

TABLE 8 Named Fossil Hemerobiidae a (an unnamed species of Sympherobius is reported herein in Dominican amber)

widely distributed in tropical regions of North and South America and temperate regions of the former two continents as well as Africa, Asia, and Europe. Like Notiobiella , only two living species, Sympherobius insulanus Banks and S. zelenyi Alayo , are distributed in the West Indies, both on the island of Cuba ( Alayo, 1968; Oswald, 1988).

Morphological terminology follows that of Oswald (1993).

Figures

Fig. 19. Photomicrograph of holotype of Spiloconis oediloma, new species (DR-14-1097).

Fig. 20. Holotype of Spiloconis oediloma, new species (DR-14-1097).