An Aphidlion preserved in Baltic Amber along with several Aphids.

The term 'Aphidlion' refers to the larvae of some Neuropteran Insects (Lacewings) which are specialised for hunting Aphids. They are related to Antlions, which are also the larvae of Neuropteran Insects, and which hunt Ants, but unlike Antlions, which are ambush specialists, they are free-ranging raptorial predators which actively hunt down their prey. The term Aphidlion is applied to the larvae of two different Neuropteran groups, the Green Lacewings, Chrysopidae, and the Brown Lacewings, Hemerobiidae, which were one thought to be sister groups but are currently thought to be only distantly related within the Neuroptera as a whole (it is also sometimes used for the larvae of Ladybird Beetles, which also feed on Aphids, but this usage for a very different group is confusing, and best avoided). 

Like other Lacewing larvae, Aphidlions are voracious predators with highly specialised feeding apparatus, with the upper and lower jaws fused to form a pair of feeding stylets, which are used to first inject their prey with venom, then digestive juices, and finally to suck out the prey's dissolved tissues. The stylets of Aphidlions tend to be simple and curved, unlike those of Antlions, which bear teeth, or the larvae of Mantis, Bearded, and Lance Lacewings, which have straight stylets. In addition, the body of Aphidlions is rather spindle-shaped compared to other Lacewing larvae.

Their ability to consume large numbers of Aphids in a relatively short period of time makes Aphidlions an important part of modern ecosystems, and has made them attractive to farmers and horticulturalists as a biological means of controlling Aphid populations, with several species used in this way. Aphidlions are also known in the fossil record, as inclusions in Cretaceous and Eocene ambers, although they are not as numerous as adult Lacewings. Based upon the morphology of these fossil Aphidlions, it is assumed that their ecological role is as ancient as the group (Neuropteran Insects formed a major part of Mesozoic ecosystms, ans were formerly far more numerous and diverse than they are today), although this is very hard to prove from isolated individuals.

In a paper published in the journal Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments on 25 January 2022, Joachim Haug of the Biocenter and GeoBio-Center at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Christine Kiesmüller of Cytology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Greifswald, Gideon Haug, also of the Biocenter at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Carolin Haug, again of the Biocenter and GeoBio-Center at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, and Marie Hörnig, also of Cytology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Greifswald, report the discovery of an Aphidlion along with several Aphids in a single piece of Eocene Baltic Amber, strongly supporting the idea that the ecological association between these groups existed by this time.

The amber used in the study was purchased from a dealer, Jonas Damzen, of Vilnius, Lithuania, and now resides in the Palaeo-Evo-Devo Research Group Collection of Arthropods at Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich. Baltic ambers predominantly come from the Blue-Earth Formation of Russia's Kaliningrad Peninsula. The age of Baltic Amber is not completely resolved, but most palaeontologists believe it to be of Late Eocene origin, making it between 38 and 34 million years old.

The amber piece described by Haug et al. contains a number of inclusions, including several Insect exuviae (shed skins), all to deformed to be identified, a large elongate Insect, which Haug et al. identify as an Aphidlion, and three smaller Insects with prominent Hemipteran-type beaks, which Haug et al. identify as Aphids.

 

Specimen PED 0229, Baltic amber. (a) Overview of the entire amber piece. (b) As in (a), colour-marked. (c) Aphidlion in dorso-lateral view. (d) Aphid specimen 1 in dorsal view. (e) Aphid specimen 2 in dorsal view. (f) Aphid specimen 3 in dorsal view. Haug et al. (2022).

Many details on the larger Insect are concealed, but it is elongate, with a distinct head and body, and the head bears three sets of paired structures, iterpreted as antennae, stylets and labial palps. The antennae are elongate and split into three sections, a short wide base, a long, narrow middle section and an tapering tip. The stylets are simple and curved, lacking any teeth, as would be predicted for an Aphidlion. The labial palps have two distinct elements, with the proximal (base) element being obscured and the distal element being club shaped.

 

Specimen PED 0229, Baltic amber, continued. (a)-(c) Aphidlion. (a) In ventro-lateral view. (b) In (largely) ventral view; note that the head is seen in anterior view. (c) Close-up of head in frontal view (top), same image colour-marked (bottom). (d) Aphid specimen 2 in ventral view. (e) Aphid specimen 3 in ventral view. (f) Aphid specimen 3 in lateral view. (g) Close-up of aphid 2 in lateral view. Abbreviations: at, antenna; hc, head capsule; lp, labial palp; sy, stylet. Haug et al. (2022).

This specimen is too obscured to be identified to species level, but can be identified as an Aphidlion based upon its short antennae, prominent labial palps, and sickle-shaped mandibles. These traits are also found in some Beetle larvae, but these would be expected to have some other features, such as paired maxillary palps, which are absent in the specimen. The general morphology of both the specimen's body and it's appendages also match that of the Aphidlion-larvae of a Brown Lacewing, Hemerobiidae.

The three Aphids are roughly similar in form, but differ in size, with the largest specimen being about 1 mm in length, and the other two only 0.6 mm. The bodies of these specimens are differentiated into heads and trunks, with the heads wider than they are long, and partly covered by the forward part of the trunk. They have prominent antennae protruding antero-laterally from the head, and mouth parts modified to form an elongate beak. The front three segments of the trunk are prominent, each being longer than the head and supporting a pair of 'z' shaped legs. The segments of the posterior part of the trunk are less clearly defined, but there appear to be 9-10, terminating with a compound structure of several segments. 

The similar appearance of the three Aphid specimens suggests that they belong to the same species, with the larger specimen probably being a later instar (developmental stage separated by a moult) than the two smaller specimens. Aphids are very common in Baltic Amber, although it is difficult to differentiate the long winged developmental stages to species level. Based upon the general form of these specimens, Haug et al. suggest that they might belong to the genus Germaraphis.

The amber piece appears to contain the Aphidlion-larvae of a Brown Lacewing, a group which today specialise in predating soft-bodied prey, particularly Aphids. Brown Lacewings are common in the fossil record, and are often found in environments which also support aphids, and preserved larvae are much less common than adults (excluding specimens preserved in amber, most Lacewing fossils are isolated wings, which the larvae lack), and a direct association between these Insects and Aphids in the pasr has been hard to prove. The specimen examined by Haug et al. shows the co-existence of a Brown Lacewing Aphidlion and several Aphids, showing that they were present in the same environment, and therefore that a predator-prey relationship was highly likely, at least as far back as the Eocene.

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Parababinskaia makarkini: A new species of Babinskaiid Lacewing from Cretaceous Burmese Amber.

The Babinskaiidae are an extinct family of Lacewings (Neuroptera) best known from the Early Cretaceous Crato Formation of Brazil, as well as from the Zaza Formation of southern Siberia and Burmese Amber deposits from Kachin State, Myanmar. They are small Lacewings, with forewings 9-12.7 mm in length, differentiated from other groups by the venation of their forewings (very few specimens have preserved hindwings). To date only nine species of Babinskaiid have been described, from the Early Cretaceous Crato Formation of Brazil and Zaza Formation of Russia, and from Middle Cretaceous Burmese Amber.

In a paper published in the journal ZooKeys on 4 April 2018, Jiahui Hu and Xiumei Lu of the Department of Entomology at the China Agricultural University, Bo Wang of the State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy at the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Xingyue Liu, also of the Department of Entomology at the China Agricultural University, describe a new species of Babinskaiid Lacewing from Cretaceous Burmese Amber.

Cretaceous ‘Burmese Amber’ has been extensively worked at several sites across northern Myanmar (though mostly in Kachin State) in the last 20 years. The amber is fairly clear, and often found in large chunks, providing an exceptional window into the Middle Cretaceous Insect fauna. This amber is thought to have started out as the resin of a Coniferous Tree, possibly a Cypress or an Araucaria, growing in a moist tropical forest. This amber has been dated to between 105 and 95 million years old, based upon pollen inclusions, and to about 98.8 million years by uranium/lead dating of ash inclusions in the amber. 

The new species is placed in the genus Parababinskaia, which contains only one previously described species, from the Crato Formation of Brazil, and given the specific name makarkini, in honour of the entomologist Vladimir Makarkin, for his work on fossil Neuroptera. The new species is described from two specimens, a male and a female, in separate pieces of clear amber.

Parabinskaia makarkini, male specimen in dorsal view. Scale bar is 1.0 mm. Hu et al. (2018).

The male has a body length of 11.20 mm, and a forewing length of 11.11 mm, the female has a bodylength of 10.68 mm and a forewing length of 13.05 mm. Both have Both sexes have large, semi-globular compound eyes and two domed areas on the head. The thorax is robust, the legs long and the forewing broader than the hindwing.

Parabinskaia makarkini, female specimen in dorsal view. Scale bar is 1.0 mm. Hu et al. (2018).

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Spilosmylus spilopteryx & Spilosmylus tephrodestigma: Two new species of Osmylid Lacewing from Luzon Island, the Philippines.

Osmylids (Osmylidae) are a group of Neuropteran Insects with a fossil record dating back to the Early Jurassic, with a stem group lineage (i.e. fossils of species more closely related to them than to anything else, but not descended from the last common ancestor of all living species), that are still in existence today. They appear to have been at their most numerous and diverse in the Middle-Late Jurassic, with a number of lineages apparently disappearing at the Jurassic-Cretaceous boundary.Living Osmylids tend to be large, and often have strongly patterned wings. Their larvae have elongated, lance-like mandibles, giving the group the alternative name 'Lance Lacewings'.

In a paper published in the journal ZooKeys on 26 October 2017, Davide Badano of the Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra at the Università degli Studi di Genova, and Shaun Winterton of the California State Collection of Arthropods, describe two new species of Osmylids from Luzon Island in the Philippines. Both are placed in the genus Spilosmylus, which is found from East Africa across South and Southeast Asia and as far east as Australia. 

The first new species is named Spilosmylus spilopteryx, where 'spilopteryx' means 'marked wing' in reference to the prominent, cloud-like markings in its wings. It is described from a single male specimen collected from the Tigaon area of Camarines Sur Province on southern Luzon. It is 10.48 mm in length, with a forewing length of 17.46 mm, and brown in colour with distinctively marked wings.

Spilosmylus spilopteryx, male specimen in dorsal view. Badano & Winterton (2017).

The second new species is named Spilosmylus tephrodestigma, where 'tephrodestigma' means 'coal spot' in reference to the grey spots found on its forewings. This species is described from a single specimen from the Barlig area of Mountain Province on northern Luzon Island. This specimen has a damaged abdomen, making it impossible to determine its sex or body length, but it has a forewing length of 21.43 mm, and is pale in colour with brown markings on its body and grey markings on its wings.

Spilosmylus tephrodestigma, specimen in dorsal view. Badano & Winterton (2017).

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Lithochrysa borealis: A new species of Green Lacewing from the Eocene of British Columbia.

The Neuroptera, or Net-winged Insects, first appeared in the Permian and reached their maximum diversity in the Permian, when they were the most numerous Insects in many ecosystems. They are non-metamorphic Insects, in that they do not go through a dramatic metamorphosis on reaching maturity in the way that Butterflies or Wasps do, but rather the larvae grow progressively more like the adults with each molt Nevertheless the larvae are often quite different from the adults and may have quite different ecological roles. Today the Neuroptera are somewhat of a relic group, with many of the Jurassic groups having become extinct and most of the surviving groups having much lower diversity. One group that are still very successful today are the Green Lacewings, Chrysopidae, with around 2000 species in about 85 genera found living around the world. This group was already well established by the Eocene, with 21 species described, all from North America.

In a paper published in the journal Zootaxa on 27 September 2017, Bruce Archibald of the Department of Biological Sciences at Simon Fraser University and Vladimir Marakin of the Federal Scientific Center of the East Asia Terrestrial Biodiversity of the Far East Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, describe a new species of Green Lacewing from an Early Eocene lacustrine shale exposed in the Driftwood Canyon Provincial Park of British Colombia.

The new species is placed in the genus Lithochrysa, which contains one previously described species, from the Eocene of Colorado, and given the specific name borealis, meaning 'northrn'. The species is described from an overlapping partial forewing and hindwing (fossil Insect species are often described from their wings, the venation of which is highly diagnostic).

 Wings of Lithochrysa borealis. (A) Specimen as preserved, a crumpled forewing overlaying a partial hind wing; (B) forewing venation (hind wing not shown). Scale bar is 1 mm. Archibald & Makarin (2017).

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Parababinskaia elegans: A new species of Babinskaiid Lacewing from the Early Cretaceous Crato Formation of Brazil.

The Babinskaiidae are an extinct family of Lacewings (Neuroptera) best known from the Early Cretaceous Crato Formation of Brazil, as well as from the Zaza Formation of southern Siberia and Burmese Amber deposits from Kachin State, Myanmar. They are small Lacewings, with forewings 9-12.7 mm in length, differentiated from other groups by the venation of their forewings (very few specimens have preserved hindwings).

In a paper published in the journal Cretaceous Research on 15 June 2017, Vladimir Makarkin of the Federal Scientific Center of the East Asia Terrestrial Biodiversity of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Sam Heads of the Illinois Natural History Survey at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Sonja Wedmann of the Messel Research Station of the Senckenberg Research Institute, describe a new species of Babinskaiid Lacewing from the Crato Formation, as part of a wider review of the group.

The new species is named Parababinskaia elegans, where ‘Parababinskaia’ means ‘beside-Babinskaia’ in reference to another genus which it resembles., and ‘elegans’ means ‘elegant’, in reference to the quality of the specimen from which it is described. The species is described from a single specimen from the collection of the Illinois Natural History Survey. This specimen is preserved in a slab of finely laminated limestone, and is almost complete, lacking only the legs and detail of the forewings missing (unusually the hindwings are extremely well preserved). 

Parababinskaia elegans; specimen as preserved (wetted with ethanol). Scale bar represents 2 mm. Jared Thomas in Makarkin et al. (2017).

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Lasiosmylus longus: A new species of Lacewing from the Early Cretaceous of Liaoning Province, China.

Lacewings, Neuroptera, are a widespread and diverse group of Insects soft bodied Insects noted for their predatory larvae. They first appeared in the Permian, and reached their maximum diversity in the Mesozoic, when they appear to have filled many ecological niches occupied by other Insect groups today. There are about 6000 extant species, though not all are closely related, with several very ancient lineages with only a small number of species.

In a paper published in the journal ZooKeys on 24 November 2016, Bingyu Zheng, Dong Ren and Yongjie Wang of the College of Life Sciences at Capital Normal University describe a new species of Lacewing from the Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Liaoning Province, China.

The new species is placed in the genus Lasiosmylus and given the specific name longus, refering to the long slender wings of the species. The species is described from a single specimen, 16.3 mm in length with a forewing length of 22.7 mm. The body is only faintly preserved, but the wings are clearly preserved allowing comparison to other species of Cretaceous Lacewings.

Lasiosmylus longus. (A) Habitus photograph, (B) hp, humeral plate (left hindwing), (C) line drawing. Scale bars: 5 mm (A), (C), 1 mm (B). Zheng et al. (2016).

The genus Lasiosmylus was previously described from a single species, Lasiosmylus newi, and assigned to the family Osmylidae (Osmylids), but latter transferred to the Ithonidae (Moth Lacewings, Giant Lacewings and Montane Lacewings). Zheng et al. also describe nine new specimens of Lasiosmylus newi, providing further information on this species.

New materials of Lasiosmylus newi. (A) Composite photographs of habitus of part and counterpart; hp, humeral plate, (B) line drawing, (C) habitus photograph; hp, humeral plate, (D) line drawing. Scale bars: 5 mm. Zheng et al. (2016).

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Paleosisyra minor: A new species of Spongefly from Baltic Amber.

Spongeflies, Sisyridae, are Neuropteran Insects related to Dustywings and Brown Lacewings. The adults closely resemble Brown Lacewings, but the larvae are very different, being aquatic, which is unusual in Neuropterans, and parasitic on Freshwater Sponges and Bryozoans. There are about 60 species living today, but like other Neuropterans the group is ancient, with a fossil record going back to the Crecaceous, and modern Spongeflies are probably less diverse than the ancient members of the group.

In a paper published in the journal Zootaxa on 26 August 2016, Wilfried Wichard of the Institute of Biology at the University of Koeln, Sonja Wedmann of the Senckenberg Forschungsstation Grube Messel, and Thomas Weiterschan of Höchst im Odenwald describe a new species of Spongefly from Eocene Baltic Amber.

The new species is placed in the genus Paleosisyra, which includes two previous species described from Baltic Amber, and given the specific name minor, meaning 'small' in Latin, due to the small size of the specimen, which has a forewing length of only 3.5 mm (compared to 4.0-5.2 for other members of the genus. The species is described from a single well preserved male specimen preserved in a piece of almost clear Baltic Amber.

Paleosisyra minor. Male in dorsal view; right forewing apically distored, left forewing length 3.5 mm. Wichard et al. (2016).

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Butterflies of the Jurassic: Convergent evolution between Mesozoic Kalligrammatid Lacewings and modern Butterflies. Kalligrammatid Lacewings first appeared in the fossil record in the Middle Jurassic, about 160 million years ago, and disappeared in the Early Cretaceous about 115 million years ago. They were...

Glenochrysa minima: A new species of Green Lacewing from Western Australia.   The Neuroptera, or Net-winged Insects, first appeared in the Permian and reached their maximum diversity in the Permian, when they were the most numerous Insects...

A Silky Lacewing from the Eocene of Washington State.                                       Silky Lacewings (Psychopsidae) are a group of Neuropteran Insects that are rare today, with only...

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