Gnopholeon delicatulus ( Currie, 1903 )

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 : 7

Gnopholeon delicatulus ( Currie, 1903)

Figs. 1B , 4–5

Brachynemurus delicatulus Currie, 1903: 279 [Holotype male, Phoenix (USNM)]. – Banks, 1907: 31 [species list]. – Banks, 1913: 65 [species list].

= Scotoleon delicatulus ( Currie, 1903) . – Banks, 1913: 65 [new combination].

= Clathroneuria delicatulus ( Currie, 1903) . – Banks, 1927: 52 [new combination, redescription, taxonomy, distribution]. – Banks, 1938: 419, 421 [redescription, distribution, illustrations].

= Gnopholeon delicatulus ( Currie, 1903) . – Stange, 1970: 38, 50, 111, 112, 149, 151, 156, 173, 192 [new combination, redescription, taxonomy, distribution, illustrations, key]. – Penny et al., 1997: 85 [taxonomy, distribution]. – Flint Júnior, 2002: 96 [type]. – Winterton et al., 2018: 8 [phylogeny]. – Machado et al., 2019: 7 [phylogeny].

Distribution. USA (AZ, CA, NV, TX), Mexico (BC).

Diagnosis. Adults. General coloration pale and reddish brown; ocular rim setae absent; labial palpi distal palpomere swollen; legs without clavate setae; female ectoproct without digging setae; lateral gonapophysis digging setae long and slender; posterior gonapophysis swollen, with many hairlike setae; anterior gonapophysis unnoticeable, pregenital plate reduced.

Remarks. This species was reported from Baja California in Oswald et al. (2002), but the specific locality is unclear. This species clearly stands out when compared to the other two Gnopholeon species. Superficially, G. delicatulus resembles a Tyttholeon species because its pale coloration and reduction of body setae, but the large pretarsal claws, tibial spurs, and tarsomere size and proportion are all diagnostic to Gnopholeon . Stange (1970) describes the male genitalia of G. delicatulus as about the same as G. zapotecus . No male specimens were analyzed during this work, and thus the detailed morphology of the male genitalia of G. delicatulus remains unknown in the literature.

Material examined. (1♀) United States – Arizona: Tucson ; 28.vi.1968; 1♀; F. D. Parker, L. A. Stange; CNIN NEU:MYR:2636 .

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 4 Gnopholeon delicatulus (Currie, 1903), 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 prothorax, dorsal view.

Figure 5 Gnopholeon delicatulus (Currie, 1903), female terminalia. A) ventral view.B) lateral view.— Abbreviations: ag: anterior gonapophysis; ds: digging setae; et: ectoproct; gp: gonapophyseal plate; lg: lateral gonapophysis; pg: posterior gonapophysis; pgp: pregenital plate.