Glyptobasis McLachlan, 1873

Hassan, Muhammad Asghar & Liu, Xingyue, 2021, Taxonomic notes on owlflies from Pakistan (Neuroptera: Myrmeleontidae Ascalaphinae), Zootaxa 4970 (3), pp. 401-452 : 416

Genus Glyptobasis McLachlan, 1873

Glyptobasis McLachlan, 1873a: 268 . Type species: Ascalaphus (Ogcogaster) dentifer Westwood, 1847: 69 . Subsequent designation by McLachlan, 1873b: 402.

Diagnosis. Glyptobasis is similar to Acheron in having the distinct lateral spines on the basal flagellomeres in male and similar to Nousera Navás by the presence of a distinct triangular projection on the anal area of forewing. The genus can be distinguished from Acheron by the presence of the distinct triangular projection on the anal area of forewing and from Nousera by the presence of distinct lateral spines on the basal antennal segments in male.

Note. Glyptobasis is represented by eight species which are mostly restricted to South Asia (5 species) and Southeast Asia (3 spp.). The greatest diversity of this genus occurs in India (5 spp.) and Myanmar (3 spp.). However, the discovery of members of this genus, i.e., Glyptobasis dentifera ( Westwood, 1847) , from Pakistan suggests that the fauna of eastern Pakistan is of Oriental affinity. The specimen we examined agrees with the photographs of syntypes of G. dentifera in Tauber et al. (2019) in regard to general morphology, except for slight color variations in the wing membrane, which are slightly brownish along the costal region in forewing and also on the apical region of hind wing in the photographs of syntypes. In our specimen the wings are completely hyaline. For now, we treat our specimen as Glyptobasis dentifera , based on comparison with photographs provided by Tauber et al. (2019) and hope that future discovery of a male from Pakistan will yield information on the correct identification. The similar variability of color patterns on wing membrane has also been noticed in some other split-eyed owlfly species, such as Acheron longus ( Walker, 1853) , by Tauber et al. (2019: figs 15A–C) and Ábrahám (2008b), and Ogcogaster tessellata ( Westwood, 1847) ( Figs 14A–C , 15A–D ) in the present study.

Figures

FIGURE 14. Ogcogaster tessellata (Westwood). Male. A–C. Dorsal habitus. Scale bar: 5.0 mm.

FIGURE 15. Ogcogaster tessellata (Westwood). Female. A–D. Dorsal habitus. Scale bar: 5.0 mm.