Nevrorthidae
family of insects
The Nevrorthidae (often incorrectly spelled "Neurorthidae") are a small family of lacewings in the order Neuroptera. There are 19 extant species in four genera, with a geographically disjunct distribution: Nevrorthus, comprising 5 species with scattered distributions around the Mediterranean; Austroneurorthus, with two species known from southeastern Australia; Nipponeurorthus, comprising 11 species known from China and Japan; and Sinoneurorthus, known from a single species described from Yunnan Province, China. They are traditionally placed in the Osmyloidea, alongside Osmylidae and the spongillaflies (Sisyridae), but some research has considered them to be the sister group to the rest of Neuroptera. The larvae have unique straight jaws that are curved at the tips, and live as unspecialised predators in the sandy bottom sediments of clear, fast flowing mountain rivers and streams. They pupate underwater on the underside of stones. The adults are likely predators or feed on honeydew and other sugar-rich fluids.
Apart from the mere four living genera, several species are known from fossils, the oldest being a larva from the Middle Jurassic of China, which already shows aquatic adaptations typical of modern nevorthid larvae.
Taxonomy
After
Nevrorthus Costa, 1863
Nevrorthus apatelios H. Aspöck, U. Aspöck & Hölzel, 1977 Balkans, Italy
Nevrorthus fallax (Rambur, 1842) Sardinia and Corsica
Nevrorthus hannibal U. Aspöck & H. Aspöck, 1983 Tunisia, Algeria
Nevrorthus iridipennis Costa, 1863 Calabria, Sicily
Nevrorthus reconditus Monserrat & Gavira, 2014 Malaga, Spain
Genus Austroneurorthus Nakahara, 1958
Austroneurorthus brunneipennis (Esben-Petersen, 1929) New South Wales, Queensland, Australia
Austroneurorthus horstaspoecki U. Aspöck, 2004 Victoria, New South Wales, Australia
Genus Nipponeurorthus Nakahara, 1958
Nipponeurorthus damingshanicus Liu, H. Aspöck & U. Aspöck, 2014 Guangxi, China
Nipponeurorthus fasciatus Nakahara, 1958 China (Taiwan)
Nipponeurorthus flinti U. Aspöck & H. Aspöck, 2008 Japan (Okinawa, Amamioshima).
Nipponeurorthus furcatus Liu, H. Aspöck & U. Aspöck, 2014 China (Yunnan)
Nipponeurorthus fuscinervis (Nakahara, 1915) Japan (Hokkaido, Honshu)
Nipponeurorthus multilineatus Nakahara, 1966 China (Taiwan).
Nipponeurorthus pallidinervis Nakahara, 1958 Japan (Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu, Tsushima Island).
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