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Nevrorthidae
The Nevrorthidae, (often incorrectly spelled "Neurorthidae"), are a small family of winged insects of the order Neuroptera. Extant species may be described as living fossils. There are 19 extant species in four genera, with a geographically disjunct distribution, '' Nevrorthus,'' comprising 5 species with scattered distributions around the Mediterranean, '' Austroneurorthus'' with two species known from southeastern Australia, '' Nipponeurorthus'' comprising 11 species known from China and Japan, and '' Sinoneurorthus'' known from a single species described from Yunnan Province, China. They are traditionally placed in the Osmyloidea, alongside Osmylidae and the spongillaflies (Sisyridae) as their closest relatives, while some research has considered them to be the sister group to the rest of Neuroptera. The larvae have unique straight jaws that are curved at the tips, and live as unspecialised predators in the sandy bottom sediments of clear, fast flowing mountain rivers and st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neuroptera
The insect order Neuroptera, or net-winged insects, includes the lacewings, mantidflies, antlions, and their relatives. The order consists of some 6,000 species. Neuroptera can be grouped together with the Megaloptera and Raphidioptera in the unranked taxon Neuropterida (once known as Planipennia) including: alderflies, fishflies, dobsonflies, and snakeflies. Adult Neuropterans have four membranous wings, all about the same size, with many veins. They have chewing mouthparts, and undergo complete metamorphosis. Neuropterans first appeared during the Permian period, and continued to diversify through the Mesozoic era. During this time, several unusually large forms evolved, especially in the extinct family Kalligrammatidae, often called "the butterflies of the Jurassic" for their large, patterned wings. Anatomy and biology Neuropterans are soft-bodied insects with relatively few specialized features. They have large lateral compound eyes, and may or may not also ha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Osmyloidea
Osmyloidea is a euneuropteran superfamily in the lacewing order Neuroptera sister to the superfamilies Dilaroidea, Mantispoidea, and the clade Neoneuroptera. The superfamily includes three living families and two extinct families described from the fossil record. Taxonomy * Nevrorthidae (Late Cretaceous-Present) * Osmylidae (Early Jurassic-Present) *Sisyridae Sisyridae, commonly known as spongeflies or spongillaflies, are a family of winged insects in the order Neuroptera. There are approximately 60 living species described, and several extinct species identified from the fossil record. Description ... (Late Cretaceous-Present) *† Archeosmylidae (Permian-Triassic) *† Saucrosmylidae (Middle Jurassic) References Neuroptera Insect superfamilies {{Neuroptera-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rovno Amber
Rivne amber, occasionally called Ukrainian amber, is amber found in the Rivne Oblast and surrounding regions of Ukraine and Belarus. The amber is dated between Late Eocene and Early Miocene, and suggested to be contemporaneous to Baltic amber. Major exploration and mining of the amber did not start until the 1990s. Geology The late Eocene amber is hosted in the Mezhigorje Formation, with early reports of occurrences in the underlying Obukhov Formation as well. The formations are found along the northwestern margin of the Ukrainian Crystalline Shield exposed in the Rivne region of the Ukraine and across the border near Rechitsa in the Gomel Region of Belarus. The granite basement rock was overlain by sandy to clayey deposits that were host to alluvial amber. The two formations total between in thickness, both containing interbeds or mixtures of brown coals and carbonized vegetation. Both formations are sandy to clayey in texture, with the Obukhov having more clayey glauc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Burmese Amber
Burmese amber, also known as Burmite or Kachin amber, is amber from the Hukawng Valley in northern Myanmar. The amber is dated to around 100 million years ago, during the latest Albian to earliest Cenomanian ages of the mid-Cretaceous period. The amber is of significant palaeontological interest due to the diversity of flora and fauna contained as inclusions, particularly arthropods including insects and arachnids but also birds, lizards, snakes, frogs and fragmentary dinosaur remains. The amber has been known and commercially exploited since the first century AD, and has been known to science since the mid-nineteenth century. Research on the deposit has attracted controversy due to its alleged role in funding internal conflict in Myanmar and hazardous working conditions in the mines where it is collected. Geological context, depositional environment and age The amber is found within the Hukawng Basin, a large Cretaceous-Cenozoic sedimentary basin within northern Myanmar. The s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sisyridae
Sisyridae, commonly known as spongeflies or spongillaflies, are a family of winged insects in the order Neuroptera. There are approximately 60 living species described, and several extinct species identified from the fossil record. Description In general appearance, the adults resemble some brown lacewings (Hemerobiidae). The forewings of spongillaflies have a span of 4–10 millimetres. The greyish or brownish wings have few cross veins except in the costal field, and most of these are not forked. The subcostal (Sc) and radial (R1) veins are fused near the wingtip. The larvae of spongillaflies look rather bizarre. Similar to those of some osmylids (Osmylidae) at first glance, they have spindly legs on a bulky thorax, long antennae, and flexible, threadlike mouthparts. However, the second and third instars carry seven pairs of jointed, movable tracheal gills beneath their plump abdomen. These gills are possessed by no other extant insect family, and readily distinguish them ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Living Fossil
A living fossil is an extant taxon that cosmetically resembles related species known only from the fossil record. To be considered a living fossil, the fossil species must be old relative to the time of origin of the extant clade. Living fossils commonly are of species-poor lineages, but they need not be. While the body plan of a living fossil remains superficially similar, it is never the same species as the remote relatives it resembles, because genetic drift would inevitably change its chromosomal structure. Living fossils exhibit stasis (also called "bradytely") over geologically long time scales. Popular literature may wrongly claim that a "living fossil" has undergone no significant evolution since fossil times, with practically no molecular evolution or morphological changes. Scientific investigations have repeatedly discredited such claims. The minimal superficial changes to living fossils are mistakenly declared as an absence of evolution, but they are examples of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Osmylidae
Osmylidae are a small family of winged insects of the net-winged insect order Neuroptera. The osmylids, also called lance lacewings, stream lacewings or giant lacewings, are found all over the world. There are around 225 extant species. Description and ecology Adult osmylids are small to moderately-sized net-winged insects, with wingspans ranging from 1.4 to 3 cm. Smaller members resemble typical green lacewings, and larger species resemble antlions. Many species, namely those of the type genus '' Osmylus'', have spotted wings. The thin antennae are short. They have two compound eyes, as well as three ocelli in between. Adult osmylids, like green lacewings (some of which are colloquially known as "stinkflies"), have prothoracal glands which produce foul-smelling compounds used to deter would-be predators. Their larvae are superficially similar to those of spongillaflies (Sisyridae). They have peculiar mouthparts which look like a thin forceps with the ends bending out ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Order (biology)
Order ( la, ordo) is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between family and class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms and recognized by the nomenclature codes. An immediately higher rank, superorder, is sometimes added directly above order, with suborder directly beneath order. An order can also be defined as a group of related families. What does and does not belong to each order is determined by a taxonomist, as is whether a particular order should be recognized at all. Often there is no exact agreement, with different taxonomists each taking a different position. There are no hard rules that a taxonomist needs to follow in describing or recognizing an order. Some taxa are accepted almost universally, while others are recognized only rarely. The name of an order is usually written with a capital letter. For some groups of organisms, their orders may fol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
