Lacewings at Beaufort West, on the farm Little England

Lacewings are not one of the charismatic groups of insects, and have been poorly studied. They consume aphids and do pollination, so they are one of the key ecosystem service providers, and deserve better attention than what they have received to date. There is only one entomologist in South Africa who has focused on lacewings, Dr Mervyn Mansell, at the University of Pretoria. He says that, in South Africa, there are currently 415 described species in 14 families of lacewings. There are many taxa that await description, and he reckons that we should eventually end up with about 500–550 species for South Africa. For the whole of Africa, it is likely that there will prove to be 1000–1500 species. In this blog, we look at lacewings at Beaufort West.

On three trips to the farm Little England in the Karoo north of Beaufort West a total of 18 lacewing have been photographed and uploaded to the LacewingMAP section of the Virtual Museum (http://vmus.adu.org.za). 13 have been identified to species level, three to genus and, for one, the photo was only good enough for the ID to be done to family. The number of species so far is a paltry six! But it is a start. These are the first ever records for this grid cell.

Mervyn Mansell, who does the identifications for LacewingMAP, reckons that we could expect at least 50 species in that area. “It is actually an extremely rich area for lacewings. Lots of fieldwork needs to be done here.” Then we will find out the full story of lacewings at Beaufort West.

The first six species for this grid cell are listed below. The species notes were written by Mervyn Mansell in his comments on the identification. The number of records to date is given, as well as the link to the record in LacewingMAP with what is currently the best available photo of the species in the grid cell. The distribution map for each species, based on the LacewingMAP database, is also provided. The take home message from these maps is plain: Our knowledge of the distributions of the lacewings is weak.

Systematic list of lacewings recorded on the farm Little England

Centroclisis maligna (Myrmeleontidae)

This species is fairly common and widespread in the drier western parts of southern Africa. It is readily distinguished form other Centroclisis species by its reddish colour. The large robust three-toothed larvae live freely in sand and do not construct pitfall traps.

One record: http://vmus.adu.org.za/?vm=LacewingMAP-10704

–000–

Creoleon mortifer (Myrmeleontidae)

A common and widespread species, occurring throughout most of southern Africa and northward. It is highly variable, often with black streaks in the wings that have led to numerous synonyms. Rests with wings wrapped around the body. Larvae live freely in sand.

Two records: http://vmus.adu.org.za/?vm=LacewingMAP-10758

–000–

Myrmeleon doralice (Myrmeleontidae)

This species is common and widespread throughout southern Africa, particularly in the drier areas. Larvae construct pits and are pinkish in colour. Although the adults are fairly common, the larvae are not frequently encountered, although they are pit builders, and usually occur in open exposed situations.

Three records: http://vmus.adu.org.za/?vm=LacewingMAP-10706 m

–000–

Nannoleon michaelseni (Myrmeleontidae)

This species is widespread in South Africa and Namibia, and is fairly common in the drier western parts of the subregion. It is currently the only species in the genus, although another undescribed species is also known. It is characterized by the broad clear wings and long clavate antennae. Nothing is known of its biology.

Two records: http://vmus.adu.org.za/?vm=LacewingMAP-10701

–000–

Nesoleon boschimanus (Myrmeleontidae)

This species is widespread in South Africa and Namibia, and is fairly common in the drier western parts of the subregion. It is currently the only species in the genus, although another undescribed species is also known. It is characterized by the broad clear wings and long clavate antennae. Nothing is known of its biology.

Three records: http://vmus.adu.org.za/?vm=LacewingMAP-10705

–000–

Dichochrysa tacta (Chrysopidae)

Another of the “brown” “green lacewings”. Fairly widespread and common in the drier western parts of South Africa. Not known from neighbouring countries. Larvae live freely on vegetation, where they are active predators.

Two records: http://vmus.adu.org.za/?vm=LacewingMAP-10784

–000–

Mervyn Mansell’s role in LacewingMAP, doing the identifications and writing the comments, is crucial to the success of this project.

There is an Open Access paper in Biodiversity Observations about the lacewing atlas project called LacewingMAP: Progress report on the atlas of African Neuroptera and Megaloptera, 2014–2019

The data about lacewings at Beaufort West were extracted from the LacewingMAP section of the Virtual Museum (Animal Demography Unit (2018). LacewingMAP Virtual Museum. Accessed at http://vmus.adu.org.za/?vm=LacewingMAP on 2018-04-02)