MYRMELEONTINI LATREILLE 1802

Miller, Robert B. & Stange, Lionel A., 2012, The cave mouth antlions of Australia (Neuroptera: Myrmeleontidae), Insecta Mundi 2012 (250), pp. 1-65 : 39

TRIBE MYRMELEONTINI LATREILLE 1802

Description. Adult: body size 14-44 mm, forewing 10 to 40 mm, hindwing 10 to 40 mm. Structure: antennal fossae separated by more than diameter of scape (except Porrerus Navás ); forewing vein CuP originates at or very near (about cubital vein diameter) basal cross vein; forewing vein 2A variable in form; forewing vein 2A runs close to lA for short distance, then bends at sharp angle toward 3A; hindwing vein CuA connected to posterior fork of MP2 by crossveins, with four or more presectoral crossveins; hindfemur without sense hair; tibial spurs and tarsal claws well developed, not arched or bent; ventral surface of distal tarsomere with all setae reduced to less than one-third width of tarsomere (except Porrerus ); male pilula axillaris usually present; male abdomen without hair pencils; male ectoproct without postventral lobe (except Porrerus ).

Distribution: Afrotropical; Palaearctic; Oriental; Australian; Nearctic; Neotropical.

Discussion. This tribe has many apomorphic wing venational characters. The radial sector arises well distad of the base and forewing vein 2A is strongly angled. Another apomorphy of the tribe is the extreme reduction in length of the setae on the ventral surface of the distal tarsomere which distinguishes the subtribe Myrmeleontina from the monobasic subtribe Porrerina . All the larvae reared to date representing the genera Australeon Miller and Stange , Baliga Navás , Dictyoleon Esben-Petersen , Euroleon Esben- Petersen, and Myrmeleon Linnaeus construct pitfall traps. Larvae can only move backwards except for one aberrant population of M. punctinervis Banks in Taiwan. The larvae are structurally nearly identical in all of these genera. Myrmeleon is the only cosmopolitan genus of the family found on all continents and many oceanic islands. However, no authenticated record of the tribe is known from Chile south of the Atacama Desert.