Bubopsis McLachlan, 1898

Badano, Davide & Pantaleoni, Roberto Antonio, 2014, The Larvae of European Ascalaphidae (Neuroptera), Zootaxa 3796 (2), pp. 287-319 : 297

Bubopsis McLachlan, 1898

Diagnosis. Head capsule rectangular with a shallow posterior depression; antennae thin, as long as the ocular tubercles; ocular tubercles prominent with a distinct apical protuberance; mandibles long and thin with the apical half bent outward, equipped with three relatively small teeth, distance between the base of the mandible and the basal tooth larger than that between the basal and apical teeth; the median tooth is the largest and closer to the apical tooth than to the basal tooth; interdental pseudo-teeth very small; mandible base covered with white dolichasters; labial palpi four-articulated, with segments 2-4 as long as the width of the mandible; mesothorax with two pairs of scolus-like processes bent at 90°; metathorax with a large anterior pair of bent scolus-like processes and a posterior pair of small cylindrical scolus-like processes; first pair of abdominal spiracles placed on the lateral sides; dorsal series of abdominal scolus-like processes prominent, one pair for each segment; ventral series composed by four pair of short scolus-like processes on the anterior four segments and by tubercle-like processes on the following segments, 8 th segment without recognizable processes; VIII sternite with short odontoid processes bearing dolichasters; IX sternite with short rastra each bearing three digging setae ( Fig. 2B ); body extensively covered by whitish scale-like dolichasters ( Fig. 3B ).

Examined species. B. agrionoides (Rambur, 1838) , Bubopsis sp. ( Libya) .

Comments. The genus Bubopsis comprises at least 8 species distributed in the Mediterranean Basin, Middle East and India. Hagen (1873) described for the first time a larva of this genus as “ Theleproctophylla barbara ” as he identified the specimen only on a geographic basis, ignoring the presence of the genus Bubopsis in Anatolia. His description is accurate enough to assign it to this genus for certain, as also suggested by Escribano (1921). Over a century later, the larva of B. andromache U. Aspöck, H. Aspöck & Hölzel, 1979 was finally described and illustrated by Pieper & Willmann (1980).

Figures

FIGURE 2. VIII and IX abdominal sternites of 3rd instar larva of Ascalaphidae. A, Ascalaphus festivus; B, Bubopsis agrionoides; C, Puer maculatus; D, Deleproctophylla australis; E, Libelloides macaronius. Scale bar: 1 mm.

FIGURE 3. Chaetotaxy of the VIII abdominal sternite of 3rd instar larva of Ascalaphidae. A, Ascalaphus festivus; B, Bubopsis agrionoides; C, Puer maculatus; D, Deleproctophylla australis; E, Libelloides longicornis. Scale bar: 100 µm.