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Hemerobiidae from Deceit Island: the Southernmost Neuroptera in the Americas

ABSTRACT

The Neuropteran fauna on the most meridional part of South America is relatively scarce. Two families, Hemerobiidae and Coniopterigydae, have been recorded so far. Accordingly, only a few species have reached the south of Tierra del Fuego. Currently, the southernmost records of these species, Hemerobius chilensis Nakahara, 1965 and Megalomus flinti (Nakahara, 1965), are from Puerto Williams, Navarino Island (54°56′S 67°37′W), which makes them the southernmost distributed neuropterans in the continent. Here we provide the first records for two Neuroptera species, Hemerobius nekoi Monserrat, 1996 and Megalomus flinti; from Deceit Island, a remote subantarctic island within the Cape Horn archipelago (55°51′41″S 67°08′31″W). The records provided makes these species the southernmost recorded lacewings in the continent; extending the known distribution of neuropterans in South America nearly 110km towards the south.

Keywords:
Brown lacewings; Faunistics; Cape Horn

Hemerobiidae is a family of small neuropterans commonly known as brown lacewings. With nearly five hundred species, hemerobiids are distributed worldwide, except in Antarctica (Oswald, 1993,Oswald, J.D., 1993. Revision and cladistic analysis of the world genera of the family Hemerobiidae (Insecta: neuroptera). J. N.Y. Entomol. Soc. 101 (2), 143–296. 2022). Additionally, as many species prey on pests, they have been used as biological control agents, making them economically important (Monserrat, 1996Monserrat, V.J., 1996. Revision del genero Hemerobius de latinoamerica (Neuroptera, Hemerobiidae). Fragm. Entomol. 27, 399–523., 1997Monserrat, V. J., 1997. Revisión del género Megalomus de Latinoamérica (Neuroptera, Hemerobiidae). Fragm. Entomol. 29, 123–206.).

The knowledge of Neuroptera in Southern South America is scarce and relatively recent compared to other areas of the continent. Only two families, Hemerobiidae and Coniopterygidae have been recorded so far (Monserrat, 2003Monserrat, V.J., 2003. Contribución al conocimiento de los hemeróbidos de Patagonia y Tierra del Fuego (Insecta, Neuroptera, Hemerobiidae). Graellsia 59, 37–56., 2005Monserrat, V.J., 2005. New data on the dusty wings from Coquimbo, Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego (Neuroptera, Coniopterygidae). Entomofauna. 25, 421–433.). Furthermore, few works have been published regarding and/or including information about the Southern South American fauna (Nakahara, 1965Nakahara, W., 1965. Neotropical Hemerobiidae in the United States National Museum. Proc. USNM. 117 (3509), 107–122.; González Olazo, 1981González Olazo, E.V., 1981. El genero Megalomus Rambur (Neurop.-Hemerobiidae) en Argentina y Chile. Acta Zool. Lilloana 36, 97–113., 1992aGonzález Olazo, E.V., 1992a. Sobre dos nuevos géneros australes de Hemerobiidae (Neuroptera, Planipennia). Acta Zool. Lilloana 42, 149–154., 1992bGonzález Olazo, E.V., 1992b. Contribucion al conocimiento del genero Pirioius [sic] Navas, 1928 (Neuroptera, Planipennia). Acta Zool. Lilloana 42, 155–164.; New, 1990New, T.R., 1990. Hemerobiidae (Insecta: Neuroptera) from Malaise trap catches in far southern Chile. Stud. Neotrop. Fauna Environ. 25, 105–110.; Monserrat, 1996Monserrat, V.J., 1996. Revision del genero Hemerobius de latinoamerica (Neuroptera, Hemerobiidae). Fragm. Entomol. 27, 399–523., 1997Monserrat, V. J., 1997. Revisión del género Megalomus de Latinoamérica (Neuroptera, Hemerobiidae). Fragm. Entomol. 29, 123–206., 2003Monserrat, V.J., 2003. Contribución al conocimiento de los hemeróbidos de Patagonia y Tierra del Fuego (Insecta, Neuroptera, Hemerobiidae). Graellsia 59, 37–56., 2005Monserrat, V.J., 2005. New data on the dusty wings from Coquimbo, Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego (Neuroptera, Coniopterygidae). Entomofauna. 25, 421–433.; Faúndez, 2005Faúndez, E., 2005. Asociación críptica de Gayomyia falcata (Blanchard, 1851) (Neuroptera: Hemerobiidae) con la zarzaparrilla Ribes magellanicum Poiret, 1812 (Saxifragaceae) en la Región de Magallanes. An. Inst. Patagon. 33, 63–64.). The current southernmost records of these families found in literature belong to only two species; Hemerobius chilensis Nakahara, 1965 and Megalomus flinti (Nakahara, 1965Nakahara, W., 1965. Neotropical Hemerobiidae in the United States National Museum. Proc. USNM. 117 (3509), 107–122.), both reach Puerto Williams in the Navarino Island (54°56′S 67°37′W) (Monserrat, 1996Monserrat, V.J., 1996. Revision del genero Hemerobius de latinoamerica (Neuroptera, Hemerobiidae). Fragm. Entomol. 27, 399–523., 1997Monserrat, V. J., 1997. Revisión del género Megalomus de Latinoamérica (Neuroptera, Hemerobiidae). Fragm. Entomol. 29, 123–206.).

The objective of this work is to provide the first records for Hemerobius nekoi Monserrat, 1996 (Fig. 2) and Megalomus flinti (Fig. 1) from Deceit Island, in the remote subantarctic Cape Horn archipelago:

Figure 1
Megalomus flinti. A-B., habitus, lateral view, C., wings, D., female terminalia, lateral view.
Figure 2
Hemerobius nekoi. A., habitus, lateral view; B., male terminalia, B., female terminalia.

Material examined:CHILE, Magallanes Region, Cape Horn Archipelago, Deceit Island 55°51′41″S 67°08′31″W, 27-IX/28-XII-1982, in forest, leg. D. Lanfranco, Megalomus flinti 6♀♀, Hemerobius nekoi 2♀♀1♂ (Deposited in the arthropod collection of Instituto de la Patagonia, Punta Arenas, Chile IPUM, E. Faúndez curator).

For identification and terminology we follow Monserrat (1996Monserrat, V.J., 1996. Revision del genero Hemerobius de latinoamerica (Neuroptera, Hemerobiidae). Fragm. Entomol. 27, 399–523., 1997Monserrat, V. J., 1997. Revisión del género Megalomus de Latinoamérica (Neuroptera, Hemerobiidae). Fragm. Entomol. 29, 123–206.). Photos were taken with a digital camera adapted to a stereoscopic microscope and the map in figure 3 was developed with Zeemaps®.

Figure 3
Study area, red mark, Puerto Williams, violet mark, Deceit Island.

Even though female terminalia (Fig. 1 D), was consistent among studied material, the specimens of Megalomus flinti present a high variability in wing coloration (Fig. 1 A-C). This has been previously mentioned by González Olazo (1981González Olazo, E.V., 1981. El genero Megalomus Rambur (Neurop.-Hemerobiidae) en Argentina y Chile. Acta Zool. Lilloana 36, 97–113., 1992bGonzález Olazo, E.V., 1992b. Contribucion al conocimiento del genero Pirioius [sic] Navas, 1928 (Neuroptera, Planipennia). Acta Zool. Lilloana 42, 155–164.), and Monserrat (1997)Monserrat, V. J., 1997. Revisión del género Megalomus de Latinoamérica (Neuroptera, Hemerobiidae). Fragm. Entomol. 29, 123–206.. In the case of Hemerobius nekoi, the specimen matches Monserrat’s (1996)Monserrat, V.J., 1996. Revision del genero Hemerobius de latinoamerica (Neuroptera, Hemerobiidae). Fragm. Entomol. 27, 399–523. description, especially for the granulate aspect of the membranous area in the base of both female and male ectoproct (Fig. 2 B-C), making them distinctive among other Patagonian Hemerobius Linnaeus, 1758.

Deceit Island is part of the southernmost group of islands in the American continent, the Cape Horn Archipelago. This area is characterized by Magellanic Tundra. The samples here examined were collected in forests. These forests in Deceit Island are composed mostly of Nothofagus betuloides (Mirb.) (Nothofagaceae) and Drimis winteri (Forst. & Forst.) (Winteraceae); and are located in wind-protected areas (Lanfranco, 1983Lanfranco, D., 1983. Estudios entomofaunísticos en el archipiélago del Cabo de Hornos: III.-Composición y estructura de la entomofauna de suelo-superficie asociada a bosques y turbales en caleta Toledo (isla Deceit: 55º49ºS-67º06'O). An. Inst. Patagon. 14, 119–131.). Both hemerobiids here recorded are strongly associated with Nothofagus forests (González Olazo, 1992bGonzález Olazo, E.V., 1992b. Contribucion al conocimiento del genero Pirioius [sic] Navas, 1928 (Neuroptera, Planipennia). Acta Zool. Lilloana 42, 155–164.; Monserrat, 1996Monserrat, V.J., 1996. Revision del genero Hemerobius de latinoamerica (Neuroptera, Hemerobiidae). Fragm. Entomol. 27, 399–523., 1997Monserrat, V. J., 1997. Revisión del género Megalomus de Latinoamérica (Neuroptera, Hemerobiidae). Fragm. Entomol. 29, 123–206.). Therefore, the presence of these trees in addition to them being located in wind protected areas may be of aid for these small neuropterans to reach that far south with extreme climate conditions. In the only previous work on insects of the Deceit Island (Lanfranco, 1983Lanfranco, D., 1983. Estudios entomofaunísticos en el archipiélago del Cabo de Hornos: III.-Composición y estructura de la entomofauna de suelo-superficie asociada a bosques y turbales en caleta Toledo (isla Deceit: 55º49ºS-67º06'O). An. Inst. Patagon. 14, 119–131.), the order Neuroptera was not mentioned. Thus the present becomes the southernmost record in the continent for lacewings and extending the known distribution nearly 110km towards the south (Fig. 3).

Acknowledgments

We thank anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on this manuscript.

  • Funding

    This work was funded by the project ANID, SIA, SA77210055, CHILE.

References

  • Faúndez, E., 2005. Asociación críptica de Gayomyia falcata (Blanchard, 1851) (Neuroptera: Hemerobiidae) con la zarzaparrilla Ribes magellanicum Poiret, 1812 (Saxifragaceae) en la Región de Magallanes. An. Inst. Patagon. 33, 63–64.
  • González Olazo, E.V., 1981. El genero Megalomus Rambur (Neurop.-Hemerobiidae) en Argentina y Chile. Acta Zool. Lilloana 36, 97–113.
  • González Olazo, E.V., 1992a. Sobre dos nuevos géneros australes de Hemerobiidae (Neuroptera, Planipennia). Acta Zool. Lilloana 42, 149–154.
  • González Olazo, E.V., 1992b. Contribucion al conocimiento del genero Pirioius [sic] Navas, 1928 (Neuroptera, Planipennia). Acta Zool. Lilloana 42, 155–164.
  • Lanfranco, D., 1983. Estudios entomofaunísticos en el archipiélago del Cabo de Hornos: III.-Composición y estructura de la entomofauna de suelo-superficie asociada a bosques y turbales en caleta Toledo (isla Deceit: 55º49ºS-67º06'O). An. Inst. Patagon. 14, 119–131.
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  • Monserrat, V. J., 1997. Revisión del género Megalomus de Latinoamérica (Neuroptera, Hemerobiidae). Fragm. Entomol. 29, 123–206.
  • Monserrat, V.J., 2003. Contribución al conocimiento de los hemeróbidos de Patagonia y Tierra del Fuego (Insecta, Neuroptera, Hemerobiidae). Graellsia 59, 37–56.
  • Monserrat, V.J., 2005. New data on the dusty wings from Coquimbo, Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego (Neuroptera, Coniopterygidae). Entomofauna. 25, 421–433.
  • Nakahara, W., 1965. Neotropical Hemerobiidae in the United States National Museum. Proc. USNM. 117 (3509), 107–122.
  • New, T.R., 1990. Hemerobiidae (Insecta: Neuroptera) from Malaise trap catches in far southern Chile. Stud. Neotrop. Fauna Environ. 25, 105–110.
  • Oswald, J.D., 1993. Revision and cladistic analysis of the world genera of the family Hemerobiidae (Insecta: neuroptera). J. N.Y. Entomol. Soc. 101 (2), 143–296.
  • Oswald, J.D., 2022. Lacewing digital library. Available in: https://lacewing.tamu.edu (accessed 27 April 2022).
    » https://lacewing.tamu.edu

Edited by

Associate Editor:

Renato Jose Machado

Publication Dates

  • Publication in this collection
    28 Oct 2022
  • Date of issue
    2022

History

  • Received
    31 July 2022
  • Accepted
    21 Sept 2022
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