Myrmeleon wangi group

Diagnosis

The M. wangi group can be characterized by the hindwing shorter than the forewing; hindwing RP at origin runs closer to MA; male genitalia with gonarcus arched, membrane with short black setae, mediuncus well sclerotized, inverted V-shaped in caudal view, parameres well sclerotized, triangular in caudal view, the larvae with brown markings on coxae.

Included species

Myrmeleon wangi Miller & Stange, 1999 stat. rev.

Possible candidates: Myrmeleon formicarius Linnaeus, 1767, M. punicanus Pantaleoni & Badano, 2012, M. trivialis Gerstaecker, 1885

Remarks

Several other Old World species have a similar structure in the male genitalia comparing with M. wangi, including M. formicarius, M. punicanus and M. trivialis . The male genitalia of these species are similar to those of M. wangi in the overall shape of the gonarcus and with short, black setae on the membrane. However, the mediuncus of M. wangi is an inverted V-shape in caudal view (Fig. 16C), as the mediuncus of the other three species appears to be three-pronged. The male genitalia of these species can be distinguished from those of Baliga by the presence of short, black setae on the membrane, as well as the lack of an additional dorsal process on the mediuncus, which is present in species of Baliga in lateral view (Figs 4A, 7A) (Pantaleoni & Badano 2012; Sekimoto 2014; Hassan et al. 2022). The above-mentioned species likely belong to a closely related or the same species group as M. wangi, but additional research is required. If these species are proven to be in the same species group, this group should be redesignated as Myrmeleon formicarius group.