Nilionympha Ren & Engel, 2007

Winterton, Shaun L., Martins, Caleb Califre, Makarkin, Vladimir, Ardila-Camacho, Adrian & Wang, Yongjie, 2019, Lance lacewings of the world (Neuroptera: Archeosmylidae, Osmylidae, Saucrosmylidae): review of living and fossil genera, Zootaxa 4581 (1), pp. 1-99 : 22

Nilionympha Ren & Engel, 2007

( Fig. 7E )

Type species. Nilionympha pulchella Ren & Engel, 2007: 216 (by original designation).

Diagnosis. Wings relatively short and broad, apices slightly rounded; FW costal area narrow, subcostal veinlets widely spaced basally, denser distally, pterostigma relatively broad; FW RP1 originating relatively distant to origin of RP; both wings with numerous regular crossveins, outer gradate series absent; both wings with MA and MP with few irregular pectinate/dichotomous branches, MP area larger than MA; FW CuA irregularly dichotomously to pectinately branched, HW CuA more strongly pectinate and larger in area, with occasional end-twigging; FW CuP pectinately branched, HW CuP short, simple.

Comments. Nilionympha was originally described based on incomplete specimens of N. pulchella and N. imperfecta Ren & Engel , 200). Li et al. (2018) recently revised the genus and transferred N. imperfecta to Enodinympha after a reappraisal of the type specimen and description of the forewing. Unfortunately, the hind wing venation of both Nilionympha and Enodinympha was misinterpreted by both Ren & Engel (2007) and Li et al. (2018), specifically the identity of the posterior veins. In both cases RP1 was misinterpreted as MA, MP as CuA, CuA as CuP. Indeed, their interpretation would actually preclude placement in Gumillinae as an interpretation of an elongate and pectinately branched CuP in the hind wing would place both genera in subfamilies such as Stenosmylinae . We identify the hind wing CuP as a short, simple vein basal to the elongate and pectinately branched CuA, which taken into consideration with characters such as the wing cell arrangement and highly elongate antennae, Enodinympha and Nilionympha clearly both belong to Gumillinae .

Included species.

N. pulchella Ren & Engel, 2007 ( China) (Middle Jurassic)

N. shantouensis Li et al., 2018 ( China) (Middle Jurassic)

Figures

FIGURE 7. Gumillinae fossils. A. Allotriosmylus uniramosus Yang et al. (from Yang et al., 2010); B. Epiosmylus panfilovi Ren & Yin (from Ren & Yin, 2002); C. Enodinympha translucida Ren & Engel (forewing); D. Nuddsia longiantennata Menon & Makarkin (from Menon & Makarkin, 2008); E. Nilionympha pulchella Ren & Engel (from Ren & Engel, 2007); F. Tenuosmylus brevineurus Wang et al. (from Wang et al., 2009b) (figures not to scale).