Neuroptera

Thesaurus

Noun

Neuroptera - an order of insects including: lacewings; antlions; dobsonflies; alderflies; fish flies; mantispids; spongefliesorder Neuropteraanimal order - the order of animalsclass Hexapoda, class Insecta, Hexapoda, Insecta - insects; about five-sixths of all known animal speciesneuropteran, neuropteron, neuropterous insect - insect having biting mouthparts and four large membranous wings with netlike veinsfamily Myrmeleontidae, Myrmeleontidae - antlionsChrysopidae, family Chrysopidae - green lacewingsfamily Hemerobiidae, Hemerobiidae - brown lacewingsMegaloptera, suborder Megaloptera - in some classifications considered a separate order: alderflies; dobsonflies; snake fliesfamily Mantispidae, Mantispidae - mantispidsfamily Sisyridae, Sisyridae - an arthropod family of the order Neuroptera that includes spongeflies

Neuroptera

[nu̇′räp·tə·rə] (invertebrate zoology) An order of delicate insects having endopterygote development, chewing mouthparts, and soft bodies.

Neuroptera

(also Planipennia), an order of predatory insects having complete metamorphosis. The body length is 2–20 mm, and the wingspread reaches 120 mm. The mouthparts are formed for chewing. There are two pairs of almost identical transparent and reticulate wings. In larvae the mouthparts are formed for piercing and sucking: the sickle-shaped mandibles have a furrow, and the maxillae serve to pierce the prey and suck its blood. Digestion is external.

There are about 4,500 species, distributed principally in the tropics. Insemination with spermatophores is characteristic. Neuropterans develop in soil (families Dilaridae and Itonidae); on plants (Hemorobiidae and Chrysopidae); in colonies of ticks, coccids, and whiteflies (Coniopterygidae); in water near the shore (Osmylidae); or in the cavities of freshwater sponges (Sisyridae). The larvae of neuropterans with prehensile legs (Mantispidae) develop in the egg cocoons of spiders. Tropical species of the family Nemopteridae have greatly elongated hind wings; the larvae have a very long mesothorax. Large species of the family Ascalaphidae are found principally in the tropics (in the USSR, only in the south). They catch their prey in flight, and the larvae live on the soil surface. The larvae of Myrme-leontidae dig funnels in the sand, where they lie in wait for prey. Neuropterans are known from the Permian. Many species are beneficial, because they destroy orchard and forest pests.

REFERENCES

Zhizn’ zhivotnykh, vol. 3. Moscow, 1969.
Traité de zoologie, vol. 10, fasc. 1. Edited by P.-P. Grasse. Paris, 1951.

M. S. GILIAROV

Neuroptera

Related to Neuroptera: order Neuroptera

noun

Synonyms for Neuroptera

noun an order of insects including: lacewings

Synonyms

order Neuroptera

Related Words

animal order
class Hexapoda
class Insecta
Hexapoda
Insecta
neuropteran
neuropteron
neuropterous insect
family Myrmeleontidae
Myrmeleontidae
Chrysopidae
family Chrysopidae
family Hemerobiidae
Hemerobiidae
Megaloptera
suborder Megaloptera
family Mantispidae
Mantispidae
family Sisyridae
Sisyridae