Nymphidae Explained

Nymphidae, sometimes called split-footed lacewings, are a family of winged insects of the order Neuroptera.^[1] There are 35 extant species native to Australia and New Guinea.

Nymphidae stand somewhat apart from other living Myrmeleontoidea. The antlions (Myrmeleontidae) and the owlflies (Ascalaphidae) are more closely related to them, but the bulk of the Nymphidae sister groups include extinct taxa known only from fossils, such as the Nymphitidae, Osmylopsychopidae or Babinskaiidae. The spoonwings (Nemopteridae) were at one time also believed to be quite closely related, but they seem to belong to another lineage of Myrmeleontiformia altogether. The family is divided into two major subfamilies, Nymphinae and Myiodactylinae. The larvae of nymphines are similar to antlions, with relatively elongate bodies, and camouflage themselves in debris, living and hunting on the ground, while myiodactylines have wide, disc shaped bodies, and are arboreal, living on plants.^{[2] [3]}

Fossil genera are known from Europe, Asia as well as North and South America, extending back to the Middle Jurassic.^[4]

Genera

Extant genera

• Subfamily Nymphinae Rambur 1842
  • Nymphes Leach, 1814
  • Austronymphes Esben-Petersen, 1914
  • Nesydrion Gerstaecker, 1885
• Subfamily Myiodactylinae Handlirsch 1908
  • Myiodactylus Brauer, 1866
  • Norfolius Navás, 1922
  • Nymphydrion Banks, 1913
  • Osmylops Banks, 1913
  • Umbranymphes New, 1987

Extinct genera

• †Baissoleon Makarkin 1990 Yixian Formation, China, Zaza Formation, Russia, Early Cretaceous (Aptian)
• †Cretonymphes Ponomarenko 1992 Zaza Formation, Russia, Early Cretaceous (Aptian)
• †Dactylomyius Novokshonov 1990 Arkagalinskaya Formation, Russia, Late Cretaceous (Campanian) (possibly belongs to Myiodactylinae)
• †Daonymphes Makarkin et al. 2013 Daohugou Bed, China, Middle/Late Jurassic
• †Elenchonymphes Engel and Grimaldi 2008 Burmese amber, Myanmar, Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian)
• †Liminympha Ren and Engel 2007 Daohugou Bed, China, Middle/Late Jurassic
• †Mesonymphes Carpenter 1929 Karabastau Formation, Kazakhstan, Late Jurassic, Solnhofen Limestone, Germany, Late Jurassic (Tithonian)
• †"Mesonymphes" apicalis Ponomarenko 1992 Zaza Formation, Russia, Early Cretaceous (Aptian)
• †Nymphavus Badano et al. 2018 Burmese amber, Myanmar, Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) (known from larvae only, possibly belongs to Nymphinae)
• †Nymphites Haase 1890 Daohugou Bed, China, Middle/Late Jurassic Solnhofen Limestone, Germany, Late Jurassic (Tithonian) Zaza Formation, Russia, Early Cretaceous (Aptian)
• †Olindanymphes Martins-Neto 2005 Crato Formation, Brazil, Early Cretaceous (Aptian)
• †Santananymphes Martins-Neto 2005 Crato Formation, Brazil, Early Cretaceous (Aptian)
• †Spilonymphes Shi et al. 2015 (split-footed lacewing) Yixian Formation, China, Early Cretaceous (Aptian)
• Subfamily Nymphinae Rambur 1842
  • †Epinesydrion Archibald and Makarkin 2020 Kamloops Group, Canada, Eocene (Ypresian)
  • †Nymphes? georgei Archibald et al. 2009 Klondike Mountain Formation, Washington, United States, Eocene (Ypresian) (possibly synonymous with Epinesydrion)
  • †Pronymphes Krüger 1923 Baltic amber, Eocene
  • †Rafaelnymphes Myskowiak et al. 2016 Crato Formation, Brazil, Early Cretaceous (Aptian)

Notes and References

1. New fossil species of Nymphidae (Neuroptera) from the Eocene of North America and Europe . . 2157 . 59–68 . 2009 . S. Bruce Archibald, Vladimir N. Makarkin & Jörg Ansorge. 10.11646/zootaxa.2157.1.4 . 9304328 .
2. Haug . Gideon T. . Haug . Carolin . van der Wal . Serita . Müller . Patrick . Haug . Joachim T. . March 2022 . Split-footed lacewings declined over time: indications from the morphological diversity of their antlion-like larvae . PalZ . en . 96 . 1 . 29–50 . 10.1007/s12542-021-00550-1 . 0031-0220. free .
3. Shi . Chaofan . Winterton . Shaun L. . Ren . Dong . October 2015 . Phylogeny of split‐footed lacewings (N europtera, N ymphidae), with descriptions of new C retaceous fossil species from C hina . Cladistics . en . 31 . 5 . 455–490 . 10.1111/cla.12104 . 34753272 . 0748-3007. free .
4. Archibald . S. Bruce . Makarkin . Vladimir N. . June 2020 . A new genus and species of split-footed lacewings (Neuroptera) from the early Eocene of western Canada and revision of the subfamily affinities of Mesozoic Nymphidae . The Canadian Entomologist . en . 152 . 3 . 269–287 . 10.4039/tce.2020.10 . 216238397 . 0008-347X.