Ascalaphinae is the type

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

of the

neuroptera The insect order (biology), order Neuroptera, or net-winged insects, includes the lacewings, mantidflies, antlions, and their relatives. The order consists of some 6,000 species. Neuroptera is grouped together with the Megaloptera (alderflies, f ...

owlfly Ascalaphidae is a family of insects in the order Neuroptera, commonly called owlflies; there are some 450 extant species. They are fast-flying crepuscular or diurnal predators of other flying insects, and have large bulging eyes and strongly kn ...

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

. Most species are found in the

tropics The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

. Their characteristic

apomorph In phylogenetics, an apomorphy (or derived trait) is a novel character or character state that has evolved from its ancestral form (or plesiomorphy). A synapomorphy is an apomorphy shared by two or more taxa and is therefore hypothesized to ha ...

y , shared with the

Ululodinae Ululodinae is a subfamily or tribe (as Ululodini) of owlflies. Both they and the Ascalaphinae are sometimes known as split-eyed owlflies due to the characteristic ridge that bisects their compound eyes A compound eye is a visual organ found ...

, is the ridge which divides each of their large

compound eye A compound eye is a Eye, visual organ found in arthropods such as insects and crustaceans. It may consist of thousands of ommatidium, ommatidia, which are tiny independent photoreception units that consist of a cornea, lens (anatomy), lens, and p ...

s; both groups are thus sometimes known as split-eyed owlflies. Like the other owlflies, they are

insectivore file:Common brown robberfly with prey.jpg, A Asilidae, robber fly eating a hoverfly An insectivore is a carnivore, carnivorous animal or plant which eats insects. An alternative term is entomophage, which can also refer to the Entomophagy ...

s. Imagines are cumbersome fliers and lack the strong mouthparts of

dragonflies A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of dragonflies are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threate ...

(which owlflies resemble at first glance, despite being not at all closely related insects) or other decidedly

predator Predation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common List of feeding behaviours, feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation ...

y insects, they are restricted to small and defenseless prey. The

larva A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...

e on the other hand resemble

antlion The antlions are a group of about 2,000 species of insect in the neuropteran family (biology), family Myrmeleontidae. They are known for the predation, predatory habits of their larvae, which mostly dig pits to trap passing ants or other prey. ...

s in appearance and habits and are voracious

ambush predator Ambush predators or sit-and-wait predators are carnivorous animals that capture their prey via stealth, luring or by (typically instinctive) strategies utilizing an element of surprise. Unlike pursuit predators, who chase to capture prey u ...

s, able to tackle prey like

ant Ants are Eusociality, eusocial insects of the Family (biology), family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the Taxonomy (biology), order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from Vespoidea, vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cre ...

s that will not be eaten without a struggle. The ascalaphine split-eyed owlflies form one of the two main lineages of living Ascalaphidae, the other being the Haplogleniinae which have unsplit eyes like their ancestors. The first

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...

record of the Ascalaphinae dates to the

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

, and the subfamily thus probably

evolved Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...

in the latter half or towards the end of the

Paleogene The Paleogene Period ( ; also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene) is a geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Neogene Period Ma. It is the fir ...

.See references in Haaramo (2008)

Genera

* '' Abascalaphus'' Tjeder & Hansson, 1992 * '' Acheron (insect)'' Lefèbvre 1842 * '' Acmonotus'' McLachlan, 1871 * '' Agadirius'' Badano & Pantaleoni, 2012 * '' Agrionosoma'' van der Weele, 1909 * '' Angolania'' Koçak & Kemal, 2008 * '' Angustacsa'' New, 1984 * '' Ascalaphodes'' McLachlan, 1871 * '' Ascalaphus'' Fabricius, 1775 * '' Ascalohybris'' Sziráki, 1998 * '' Ascapseudoptynx'' Abrahám & Mészáros, 2006 * '' Aspoeckiella'' Hölzel 2004 * '' Botjederinus'' Abrahám, 2011 * '' Brevibarbis'' Tjeder & Hansson, 1992 * '' Bubomyiella'' Tjeder & Hansson, 1992 * '' Bubopsis'' McLachlan 1898 * '' Cirrops'' Tjeder 1980 * '' Deleproctophylla'' Lefèbvrem 1842 * '' Dentalacsa'' New, 1984 * '' Dicolpus'' Gerstaecker, 1885 * '' Disparomitus'' van der Weele, 1909 * '' Dixonotus'' Kimmins, 1950 * '' Dorsomitus'' Michel & Tjeder, 2018 * '' Encyoposis'' McLachlan 1871 * '' Encyopsidius'' Navás 1912 * '' Eremoides'' Tjeder 1992 * '' Farakosius'' Michel 1998 * '' Fillus'' Navás 1919 * '' Forcepacsa'' New 1984 * '' Glyptobasis'' McLachlan 1871 * '' Helcopteryx'' McLachlan 1871 * '' Horischema'' Mészáros & Abrahám, 2003 * '' Kimulodes'' Tjeder & Hansson 1992 * ''

Libelloides ''Libelloides'' is a genus of owlflies belonging to the subfamily Ascalaphinae. The species of this genus are present in most of Europe. They inhabit dry meadows or dry coniferous forests. Species * ''Libelloides baeticus'' (Rambur, 1842) * ' ...

'' Schäffer 1763 * '' Lobalacsa'' New 1984 * '' Mabiza'' Tjeder & Hansson 1992 * '' Maezous'' Ábrahám 2008 * '' Mansellacsa'' Hölzel 2004 * '' Megacmonotus'' New 1984 * '' Nagacta'' Navás 1914 * '' Nanomitus'' Navás 1912 * '' Nephelasca'' Navás 1914 * '' Nephoneura'' McLachlan 1871 * '' Nousera'' Navás 1923 * '' Ogcogaster'' Westwood 1847 * '' Parascalaphus'' Martynova 1926 * '' Parasuphalomitus'' New 1984 * '' Perissoschema'' Mészáros & Abrahám 2003 * '' Phalascusa'' Kolbe 1897 * '' Pictacsa'' New 1984 * '' Pilacmonotus'' New 1984 * '' Proctarrelabis'' Lefèbvre 1842 * '' Protacheron'' Weele 1909 * '' Protidricerus'' Weele 1909 * '' Protobubopsis'' van der Weele 1909 * '' Pseudencyoposis'' van der Weele, 1909 * '' Pseudodisparomitus'' New 1984 * '' Pseudohybris'' van der Weele 1909 * '' Pseudoproctarrelabris'' van der Weele 1909 * '' Puer (insect)'' Lefèbvre 1842 * '' Siphlocerus'' McLachlan 1871 * '' Stephanolasca'' van der Weele 1909 * '' Strixomyia'' Tjeder 1989 * '' Stylascalaphus'' Sziráki 1998 * '' Suhpalacsa'' Lefèbvre, 1842 * '' Suphalomitus'' van der Weele 1909 * '' Tytomyia'' Tjeder & Hansson 1992 * '' Ululomyia'' Tjeder 1992 * '' Umbracsa'' New 1984 * '' Venacsa'' New 1984

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q4803765 Myrmeleontidae Insect subfamilies