Necyla Navás

Snyman, Louwrens P., Sole, Catherine L. & Ohl, Michael, 2018, A revision of and keys to the genera of the Mantispinae of the Oriental and Palearctic regions (Neuroptera: Mantispidae), Zootaxa 4450 (5), pp. 501-549 : 518-519

Genus Necyla Navás

Necyla Navás, 1913a , [incorrect original spelling as Nicylа ]. Type species: Necylа exiguа Navás, 1913a [as Nicylа [sic] exiguа ], by monotypy.

Orientispа Poivré, 1984a . Type species: Cercomаntispа shirozui Nakahara, 1961 (as " Orientispа shirozui ( Nakahara, 1961) "), by original designation. (New synonym)

Distribution: Palearctic and Oriental: widespread

Diagnosis. Necyla is distinguished from all other Oriental and Palearctic genera by the combination of a pronotum bearing setae (sometimes inconspicuously granulated). The A 1 in the hindwing is forked and fused with CuA for a significant distance distal to the fork, and a simple or unmodified pterostigma (See Table 1).

Head: glabrous anteromedial dome directly posterior to interantennal space, flattening out posteriorly; interocular space at anterior margin of scape as wide or narrower than width of eyes; scape smooth, usually lacks setae, rarely with few setae; flagellum slender, significantly shorter than prothorax, lacks pale band in distal third; flagellomeres simple/unmodified, similar in length than width, squircular in shape, each antennule with multiple whorls of anteriorly directed setae.

Thorax: Anterior margin with anterodorsally directed cusp; pronotal mid-section cylindrical, pronotum in dorsal view lacks transverse ridges, surface granulated, sometimes faintly corrugated, sometimes inconspicuously so; setae always present both dorsally and laterally, surface often pubescent, maculae inconspicuous dorsolateral cusps, never pigmented and thus similar colour to surrounding areas, dorsolaterally directed; prothorax conspicuously longer than pterothorax, ventral outline of pronotum in lateral view straight. Pterothorax: lacks setae but pubescent, mesoscutal furrows conspicuous, meet at prominent central furrow, central furrow shaped as conical pit, pit slightly anteriorly directed; mesoscutellum triangular, terminates just posterior to central furrow.

Legs: Mesofemur usually with dark longitudinal band/line; Meso- and metatarsus with segment I more than double in length than segments II–IV combined; segment IV the shortest; segment V flat anterodorsally; meso- and metatarsal claws comprising three to five teeth, with a collective triangular shape (elongated middle teeth flanked by shorter teeth).

Wings: venation comparatively simple; cells hyaline; radial cells comparatively compressed into box-like shapes. Forewing costal space terminates just distal to commencement of Rs; pterostigma unmodified, commencing at r-rs1, sc-ra crossvein approximately half the length of RS3, one c-ra crossvein distal to pterostigma, A2 simple, A2 and A3 fused basally, CuP straight distal to cup-a1. Hindwing with A1 forked, A2 strongly attenuated, often interpreted as absent, complete fusion between CuA and A1 for significant length distal to A1 fork, cu-a thus absent and should be interpreted as cu+a.

Male abdomen: length short, not extending past wing apices. EEG between tergite V and VI well developed; ectoprocts elongated, surpass the posterior apex of sternite IX, slightly globose apex, directed posteriorly, ventromedial lobes prominent, directed ventrally to ventromedially in caudal view; sternite IX with rounded, unsclerotised medial projection in ventral view, directed posteriorly in lateral view; pseudopenis conspicuous, shorter or similar to the length of the pseudopenal membrane; pseudopenal membrane slightly sclerotised with rough ventral surface; hypomeres prominent; distal apex of gonocoxites strongly curved dorsally, sometimes with additional inward projection, distal apex reach the level of the hypomeres, never surpass the distal apex of the pseudopenal membrane; medial gonarcal protrusion sclerotised and thorn-like, acute apex, slightly shorter than pseudopenis, conspicuously curved dorsally in lateral view; distal apex of mediuncus usually deeply bifid in ventral view, proximal apex of mediuncus variable in shape, oval to rounded arrow-like in shape, apex surpass or is level with proximal apex of gonocoxites.

Biology: The biology of Necyla is still unknown. The wings are held in a roof-like manner over the abdomen. Sexual dimorphism is present in the seemingly closely related Afrotropical genus Cercomantispa . Cercomantispa also has the characteristics listed for Austromantispa, Necyla and Xaviera. All males of Cercomantispa usually have specific colour patterns on the inner surface of the profemur that are absent in the females. Some males of Necyla species have similar patterns on both the inner- and outer surface of the profemur. It is therefore possible that a similar phenomenon is present in all of Necyla . As with Cercomantispa , the females might have been described as separate species and be the cause of an increased number of synonyms.

Notes: Necyla has largely been ignored since the 1930’s. This might be due to the bad condition of the type specimens, as well as vague and inconclusive descriptions of species belonging to the genus. Tjeder (1963) raised concerns about the validity of Cercomantispa and suggested that Cercomantispa might be a synonym of the previously described Necyla . The male genitalia and the anal veins in the hindwings ( Fig. 11h ), however, support the separation (Snyman et al. 2012). Tjeder’s paper went largely unnoticed and consequently left an opening for description of the genus Orientispa Poivré, 1984a , which includes delicate mantispine species found in the Palearctic and Oriental region. In support of the new genus, Poivré (1984a) compared the morphology to that of Afrotropical Mantispa (now Afromantispa ), Mantispa and Cercomantispa . Like Orientispa, Necyla is also a predominantly Palearctic and Oriental genus, (unlike Afromantispa and Cercomantispa ) but never received the attention of subsequent authors. Following the description of Orientispa, Yang (1999) described nine new species and assigned them to Orientispa that only had two species at that stage. It is quite plausible to suspect that some of the species described by Yang (1999) are synonyms of Necyla species already described. Since the types of Yang’s species were not available at the time of study, and his publication could not be translated, uncertainty about the validity of the species persists. The sketches in Yang’s (1999) publication, however, were sufficient to assure us that Orientispa is indeed a synonym of Necyla .

Unfortunately, Necyla pupa Navás, 1927 was not studied, and the description is not adequate. However, the type locality, Somalia, places doubt on whether this species is indeed part of Necyla . Afromantispa nana (Erichson, 1839) , a small species is common in the drier parts of Africa and the surrounding Arabian Peninsula and commonly mistaken for Necyla , e.g. Necyla arabica and Necyla bonhourei which have already been identified as synonyms of A. nana .

N. luzonensis seems to be an interesting species and it remains doubtful whether this species belongs in Necyla . The species has a single pore on each side of the anterolateral margin of sternite VII ( Fig. 11l ). It is the only species, to my knowledge, with sternal pores. Subsequent investigation might lead to the description of a new genus.

Figures

FIGURE 11. Austromantispa: a. Habitus; d. HW, basal veins; g. thorax, lateral view. Necyla: b. Habitus; f. HW, basal veins; N. luzonensis, position of sternal pores; m. thorax in lateral view; n. N. formosana, terminalia in ventral view. Xaviera manca: c. Habitus; e. HW, basal veins; j. prothorax in lateral view; k. terminalia in ventral view. Cercomantispa keiseri: h. HW basal veins, fusion between A1 and CuP