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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A new species of Osmylid from the Middle Jurassic Daohugou Biota of Inner Mongolia.

Osmylids (Osmylidae) are a group of Neuropteran Insects with a fossil record dating back to the Early Jurassic and 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. The earliest known forms do not appear greatly different from extant species, making assessment of the groups ancestry somewhat difficult, though some specimens recovered from the Middle Jurassic Daohugou Biota of Inner Mongolia resemble the more ancient Neuropteran family Archeosmylidae, which is known only from Permian and Triassic fossils.

In a paper published in the journal Acta Palaeontologica Polonica on 20 March 2012, Vladimir Makarin of the College of Life Sciences at Capital Normal University, and the Institute of Biology and Soil Sciences at the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and Qiang Yang and Dong Ren, also of the College of Life Sciences at Capital Normal University, describe a new species of Osmylid from the Middle Jurassic Daohugou Biota of Inner Mongolia.

The new species is given the name Archaeosmylidia fusca, where ‘Archaeosmylidia’ means ‘ancient Osmylid’ and ‘fusca’ means ‘dark’. The species is described from a single nearly complete forewing; Insect forewing’s being considered highly indicative and sufficient for the erection of new species.

Forewing of Osmylid Neuropteran Insect Archaeosmylidia fusca (Osmylidae) from the Jiulongshan Formation of Daohugou, China. Photograph (A) and line drawing of venation (B). Scale bars are 5 mm. Abbreviations: 1A, 2A, anal veins; C, costa; CuA, anterior cubitus; CuP, posterior cubitus;MAand MP, anterior and posterior branches of media (M); ng, nygma; R1, first branch of radius (R); Rs, radial sector; Sc, subcosta. Makarin et al. (2012). 

While confident that Archaeosmylidia fusca belongs within the family Osmylidae, Makarin et al. cannot confidently assign it to any of the ten described subfamilies within the group. Instead they suggest that the venation of Archaeosmylidia fusca appears primitive compared to other members of the group, and probably reflects the ancestral state seen in the oldest, unknown, members of the group. They further note that it also resembles some members of the older group Archeosmylidae, strengthening claims of a relationship between the two groups.

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