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NEUROPTERA, Coniopterygidae (Burmeister
1839) -- <Images>
& <Juveniles> Please refer also to the following link for details on this
group: Coniopterygidae = Link 1 Description &
Statistics
Both adults and immatures feed on small, relatively inactive prey
such as coccids, mites and aphids.
They are mainly found on shrubs and trees, although some species seem
to be confined to low vegetation.
Adults are active fliers especially at sunset, when both sexes are
attracted to lights. Fontenellea maroccana
Carp. & Lest. attacks Orthesia
in North Africa and an undetermined species was observed feeding on Cryptoparlatoria leucaspis Lind. on cryptomeria in Japan (T. Ishii cited by
Clausen, 1940). Withycombe (1923,
1924a) found several species to be predaceous on Phylloxera, his observations indicating that the feeding range of
the various species is wide. Conwentzia psociformis Curt. is associated with oak in England where it
feeds on Phylloxera but also on
diaspine Coccidae, red mites, etc (Arrow 1917). Eggs are laid singly on infested foliage. They are oval in outline, flattened
dorsoventrally, and slightly pointed at the micropylar end. The chorion surface bears reticulate
markings. Eggs of C. hageni
Banks are yellowish-pink, although some may have an orange tint (Quayle
1913). Conwentzia psociformis
lays a total of ca. 200 eggs. The number of larval instars was noted as 4 for C. hageni
(Quayle 1913). Larvae of this species
feed on all stages of red mites, the body contents being entirely sucked out
from a single puncture. One larva
consumed 226 red mites during its feeding period. The oval, flattened cocoons of Conwentzia are usually found on the underside of leaves or on
bark. They consist of a double layer
of silk with loosely woven margins.
Cocoons of Semidalis aleyrodiformis Steph. do not have a
clear double layer of silk.
Withycombe (1923, 1924a) found that the pupal skin is often left
within the cocoon rather than discarded after adult emergence. The life cycle of C. hageni is 37-43 days in summer, of
which the egg, larval and cocoon stages cover 6-8, 18-22 and 13 days,
respectively. Semidalis aleyrodiformis
overwinters as mature larvae within the cocoon, while a portion of the adults
of the first brood of C. psociformis persist in sheltered spots
until the following springtime (Clausen 1940/62). Although playing an active role in the natural control of orchard
and tree pests, they have not been used successfully in biological
control. However, an attempt was made
in 1924 to establish Conwentzia psociformis Curt. in New Zealand to
combat Phylloxera. This is a cosmopolitan family with more than 100 known
species. They may be identified by
their tiny size; forewing, 2-5 mm; wing venation reduced; wings, often legs,
and basal portions of antennae covered with a whitish or grayish, powdery wax
secreted by glands situated on the head, thorax and abdomen. The antennae are short, beady and
segmented, and ocelli are lacking. Further Description & Ecology The adults of this
family are unlike other net-winged insects. With their small size - wingspan
is between 1.8 and 5 millimetres - and their translucent brownish wings
usually covered with the namesake whitish dust of waxy scales, they are at
the first glance more similar to whiteflies (Aleyrodidae) which are true bugs
and thus among the Pterygota not at all closely related to net-winged
insects. A distinguishing feature is that like many other Neuroptera,
dustywings carry their wings nearly side-by-side when at rest, whereas
whiteflies carry them almost flat across the back. There are no more than two
veins across the costal field and few cross-veins in general - unique among
the living net-winged insects, dustywings do not actually have the
"net-winged" venation. Some Coniopterygidae, like the genus Conwentzia,
have only vestigial hindwings; others, like Helicoconis females, are
completely wingless. These insects are
associated with woody plants, on and around which they usually spend their
entire lives[1]. Females depost their eggs
singly on bark or leaves. Dustywing larvae are around 3.5 mm long. Their
mouthparts consist of short, straight sucking tubes covered by the labrum
(upper "lip"). They are crepuscular and dwell on shrubs and trees,
where they feed on small invertebrates like scale insects, aphids and mites,
as well as on arthropod eggs; the mouth tubes are used for sucking fluids
from the prey. There are usually two generations each year. Due to the dustywings'
many apomorphies, the superfamily Coniopterygoidea was formerly believed to
be monotypic, and the primitive traits of their larvae were held to evidence
a quite basal place among the net-winged insects[1].
But in fact the spongillaflies (Sisyridae), formerly allied with the
Osmylidae in error due to their larvae's convergent morphology, seem to be
close relatives of the Coniopterygidae, more plesiomorphic altogether as
adults but with a number of peculiar and highly divergent apomorphies,
particularly in the larvae. So even though the spongillaflies are not
generally placed in the Coniopterygoidea as of yet, they most likely form a
clade with the dustywings and thus it would seem that the Coniopterygoidea,
rather than being maintained as an unnecessarily monotypic taxon, are better
expanded to signify that the spongillaflies and the dustywings are each
other's closest relatives among the net-winged insects. This is all the more
significant because in this apparent clade, there would be a highly
interesting and exactly opposing pattern of evolution - primitive larvae and
highly advanced adults in the dustywings, versus primitive adults and very
advanced larvae in the spongillaflies. Numerous fossil taxa are
known from the Late Jurassic onwards. Most of these, as well as a number of
living genera, are of basal or uncertain position in this group's phylogeny. References: Please refer to <biology.ref.htm>, [Additional references
may be found at: MELVYL
Library] Banks, N.
1906. A revision of the nearctic
Coniopterygidae. Proc. Ent. Soc.
Wash. 8(3-4): 77-86. Cole, F. R.
1969. The Flies of Western
North America. Univ. Calif. Press,
Berkeley & Los Angeles. 693 p. Engel, Michael S. & Grimaldi, David A. (2007): The neuropterid fauna of Dominican and Mexican
amber (Neuropterida, Megaloptera, Neuroptera). American Museum Novitates
3587: 1-58. Haaramo, Mikko (2008): Mikko's Phylogeny
Archive: Coniopterygidae. Version of
2008-MAR-11. Retrieved 2008-APR-27 Meinander,
M. 1972. A
revision of the family Coniopterygidae (Planipennia). Acta. Zool.
Fennica 136: 1-357. |