ENY 3005 Families of Neuroptera

Order Neuroptera Pronunciation: neur-OP-ter-ra Common name: lacewings, antlions, owlflies, mantisflies

Morphological characteristics for the order include:

• Four membranous wings with forewings and hindwings about the same size; wings usually held rooflike along abdomen; wings usually with many veins and with numerous crossveins in the costal area.


• Antennae many segmented, filiform, moniliform or clubbed; lateral compound eyes, prominent to large; ocelli present or absent; mouthparts chewing.

• Megaloptera -- Dobsonflies, fishflies, and alderflies have hind wings with the base larger than that of the front wings; hind wings folded fanwise on top of abdomen.
• Raphidioptera -- Snakeflies are somewhat similar to Mantispidae, but front legs similar to other legs and arising from posterior portion of the elongated prothorax. There are about 175 species in two families in the world fauna; 19 species occur in western North America, none in the East.
• Odonata -- Damselflies are readily distinguished from similar looking antlions and owlflies by their setaceous antennae and by the shape, venation, and positioning of the wings.

Order Neuroptera as presented in Borror and White's Field Guide to the Insects.

Superfamily Coniopterygoidea
• Coniopterygidae -- dusty-wings
Superfamily Hemerobioidea
• Mantispidae -- mantisflies, mantidflies
• Dilaridae -- pleasing lacewings
• Polystoechotidae -- giant lacewings
• Ithonidae -- ithonid lacewings
• Berothidae -- berothid lacewings
• Chrysopidae -- green lacewings
• Hemerobiidae -- brown lacewings  [JPEG]
• Sisyridae -- spongillaflies
Superfamily Myrmeleontoidea
• Myrmeleontidae -- antlions
• Ascalaphidae -- owlflies

• Pages 140-146 in D. J. Borror and R. E. White. 1970. A Field Guide the to Insects. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.
• Pages 357-369 in D. J. Borror, C. A. Triplehorn, and N. F. Johnson. 1989. An Introduction to the Study of Insects, 6th ed. Philadelphia: Saunders College Publishing. 875 p.
• Pages 239-247 in R. G. Bland and H. E. Jaques. 1978. How to Know the Insects, 3rd ed. Dubuque, Iowa: Wm. C. Brown Co. 409 p.
• Pages 447-453 in H. V. Daly, J. T. Doyen, and A. H. Purcell III. 1998. Introduction to Insect Biology and Diversity, 2nd ed. Oxford University Press. 680 p.

Links to other web sites

• Megaloptera and Neuroptera of Florida - A checklist and bibliography for 81 species occurring in Florida.
• Neuroptera -- Gordon's Insect World
• NeuroWeb Home Page
• Megaloptera and Neuroptera
• Neuroptera (Lacewings and Antlions)
• Neuroptera etc. of Britain & Ireland