Nevrorthidae

Nevrorthidae
Temporal range: Eocene–recent
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Neuroptera
Family: Nevrorthidae
Genera

Austroneurorthus
Nevrorthus
Nipponeurorthus

Synonyms

Neurorthidae (lapsus)
Nevorthiformia

The Nevrorthidae - often incorrectly spelled "Neurorthidae" - are a small family of winged insects of the order Neuroptera. They are a living fossil.

They were at one time placed in the Osmyloidea, with the Osmylidae and the spongillaflies (Sisyridae) as their closest relatives, but nowadays they are considered to be the most ancient lineage of living lacewings. Sometimes they are placed in a suborder Nevorthiformia, but the quite basal position of the family is probably better expressed by placing them directly in the Neuroptera, without assigning the subordinal rank.[1]

Apart from the mere three living genera, the fossil Rophalis from the Eocene has been described.[2]

Footnotes

  1. See references in Haaramo (2008)
  2. Engel & Grimaldi (2007)

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, August 01, 2014. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.