Menkeleon bellulus ( Banks, 1905 )

Tavares, Leon Gustavo de Miranda, Marquez-López, Yesenia, Machado, Renato Jose Pires, Martins, Caleb Califre & Contreras-Ramos, Atilano, 2023, Antlions of formerly recognized tribe Gnopholeontini (Neuroptera: Myrmeleontidae: Brachynemurini) from Peninsula of Baja California, with a new species of Tyttholeon Adams, Revista Brasileira de Entomologia (e 20230044) 67, pp. 1-17 : 9

Menkeleon bellulus ( Banks, 1905)

Figs. 1C , 8–9

Maracandula bellula Banks, 1905: 7 [Lectotype female, Three Rivers, California (MCZ), designated by Stange, 1970: 155]. – Baker, 1905: 90 [distribution]. – Banks, 1907: 32 [species list]. – Banks 1927: 59 [redescription, taxonomy, distribution]. – Markl, 1954: 224 [illustration of wings]. – Adams, 1956: 93 [genitalia illustration].

= Maracandula minima Banks, 1942: 140 [Holotype male, San Miguel, Lower California, 03.vii.1938, M & R (CAS)]. – Banks, 1942 [illustrations]. – Stange, 1970: 155 [synonymy].

= Menkeleon bellulus ( Banks, 1905) . – Stange, 1970: 155 [new combination, redescription, taxonomy, distribution]. – Penny, 1977: 45 [distribution].– Penny et al., 1997: 85 [taxonomy, distribution].– Stange, 1994: 92, 112, 117 [larvae description, illustration, larvae photograph]. – Stange, 2004: 251 [taxonomy, types, distribution]. – Badano et al., 2018: 936, 937 [phylogeny].

Distribution. US (AZ, CA, NM, TX, UT), Mexico (BC, CHIH, SON).

Diagnosis. Adults. Abdomen banded with pale and dark brown; wings in rest in a moth-like position; male gonarcus broad, not twisted laterally; paramere plates sclerotized ventrally; paramere teeth basally expanded, broad, slightly curved and pointing posterodorsally; female lateral gonapophysis with long digging setae; posterior gonapophysis cylindrical, with hairlike setae.

Remarks. This species was first recorded from Mexico (and Baja California) by Stange (1970). The general pale and dark coloration with a banded abdomen and setose body are very characteristic for this species. Additionally, when perched, M. bellulus individulas rest their wings in a characteristic moth-like position ( Fig. 1C ), a behavior also seen in Chaetoleon tripunctatus ( Banks, 1922), C. variabilis Banks, 1942 and in a few Brachynemurini formerly included in the Lemolemini.

Material examined. (1♂, 2♀) México – Baja California: Ensenada, Rancho Mike’s Sky, Hotel , 1205 m; 31°06.569’N, 115º38.199’W; 01.vii.2022 ;

1 ♀; colecta manual; A. Contreras, A. Gómez, Y. Marquez, A. Ramírez, M. Ramírez; CNIN NEU:MYR:4008 • Sierra Juarez , 1.1 km N Rancho El Piedra, ca. 15 km S Parque Nacional Constitución de 1857, 1512 m; 31°53.832’N, 115º57.936’W; 29.vi.2022 ; 1♂; trampa de luz UV, vapor de mercurio, aditivos metálicos; A. Contreras, A. Gómez, Y. Marquez, A. Ramírez, M. Ramírez; CNIN NEU:MYR:4091. Sonora: La Aduana ; 22.v.1062 ; 1 ♀; F. D. Parker, L. A. Stange; CNIN NEU:MYR:2637 .

Figures

Figure 1 Live specimens of species comprised in the former Gnopholeontini:A) Gnopholeon barberi (Currie, 1903), by BJ Stacey. B) Gnopholeon delicatulus (Currie, 1903), by CD Martinez. C) Menkeleon bellulus (Banks, 1905), by Sean Werle. D) Tyttholeon puerilis Adams, 1957, by BJ Stacey.

Figure 8 Menkeleon bellulus (Banks, 1905), female specimen. A) habitus, dorsal view. B) habitus, lateral view. C) head, thorax and legs, lateral view.D) head, frontal view.E) fore and hind wings. F) head and thorax, dorsal view.

Figure 9 Menkeleon bellulus (Banks, 1905), male and female terminalia.A) male terminalia, ventral view.B) male terminalia, posterior view.C) male terminalia, lateral view.D) female terminalia, ventral view. E) female terminalia, lateral view. — Abbreviations: ag: anterior gonapophysis; ds: digging setae; et: ectoproct; etl: ectoproct postventral lobe; etm: ectoproct median process; etv: ectoproct ventral process; go: gonarcus; gp: gonapophyseal plate; lg: lateral gonapophysis; md: mediuncus; pap: paramere plates; pat: paramere tooth; pg: posterior gonapophysis; pgp: pregenital plate; stIX: sternite IX; tgIX: tergite IX.