Nymphidae

Split-footed lacewings Temporal range: Aptian - Recent PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N
Nymphes myrmeleonides
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Neuroptera
Superfamily:	Myrmeleontoidea
Family:	Nymphidae Rambur, 1842
Genera
Several, including: Myiodactylus Nymphes Osmylops and see text
Synonyms
Myiodactylidae

Nymphidae, sometimes called split-footed lacewings, are a family of winged insects of the order Neuroptera.^[1]

Nymphidae stand somewhat apart from other living Myrmeleontoidea. The antlions (Myrmeleontidae) and the owlflies (Ascalaphidae) are more closely related to them, but the bulk of the Nymphidae sister groups include extinct taxa known only from fossils, such as the Nymphitidae, Brogniartiellidae or Babinskaiidae. The spoonwings (Nemopteridae) were at one time also believed to be quite closely related, but they seem to belong to another lineage of Myrmeleontiformia altogether. Myiodactylus osmyloides and its relatives were formerly separated as Myiodactylidae but they do not form a lineage separate from the other Nymphidae.

In addition to the numerous living genera, the fossil Pronymphes is known from the Eocene^[2] plus Araripenymphes and Rafaelnymphes from the Cretaceous Crato Formation in Brazil.^[3][4]

References

1. S. Bruce Archibald, Vladimir N. Makarkin & Jörg Ansorge (2009). "New fossil species of Nymphidae (Neuroptera) from the Eocene of North America and Europe" (PDF). Zootaxa 2157: 59–68.
2. Engel, Michael S. & Grimaldi, David A. (2007): The neuropterid fauna of Dominican and Mexican amber (Neuropterida, Megaloptera, Neuroptera). American Museum Novitates 3587: 1-58. PDF fulltext
3. Menon, F.; Martins-Neto, R.G.; Martill, D. (2005). "A new Lower Cretaceous nymphid (Insecta, Neuroptera, Nymphidae) from the Crato Formation of Brazil". Gaea, Journal of Geoscience 1 (1): 11–15.
4. Myskowiak, J.; Huang, D.; Azar, D.; Cai, C.; Garrouste, R.; Nel, A. (2016). "New lacewings (Insecta, Neuroptera, Osmylidae, Nymphidae) from the Lower Cretaceous Burmese amber and Crato Formation in Brazil". Cretaceous Research. in press. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2015.10.029.