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The dustywings, Coniopterygidae, are a
family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
of Pterygota (winged insects) of the net-winged insect
order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...
( Neuroptera). About 460 living
species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...
are known.Engel & Grimaldi (2007) These tiny insects can usually be determined to
genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...
with a hand lens according to their wing venation, but to distinguish
species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...
, examination of the
genital A sex organ (or reproductive organ) is any part of an animal or plant that is involved in sexual reproduction. The reproductive organs together constitute the reproductive system. In animals, the testis in the male, and the ovary in the female, ...
s by
microscope A microscope () is a laboratory instrument used to examine objects that are too small to be seen by the naked eye. Microscopy is the science of investigating small objects and structures using a microscope. Microscopic means being invisibl ...
is usually necessary.


Description and ecology

In general
habitus Habitus may refer to: * Habitus (biology), a term commonly used in biology as being less ambiguous than "habit" * Habitus (sociology), embodied dispositions or tendencies that organize how people perceive and respond to the world around them * ' ...
, the adults are quite unlike other net-winged insects. Because of their small size - wingspan is between 1.8 and 5 millimetres - and their translucent brownish wings usually covered with the namesake whitish dust of waxy scales, they may at first be mistaken for whiteflies (
Aleyrodidae Whiteflies are Hemipterans that typically feed on the undersides of plant leaves. They comprise the family Aleyrodidae, the only family in the superfamily Aleyrodoidea. More than 1550 species have been described. Description and taxonomy The A ...
). But whiteflies are
true bug Hemiptera (; ) is an order of insects, commonly called true bugs, comprising over 80,000 species within groups such as the cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, assassin bugs, bed bugs, and shield bugs. They range in size from to arou ...
s (Sternorrhyncha), which are only distantly related to net-winged insects. An easily-perceived distinguishing feature to separate whiteflies from dustywings is, that like many other Neuroptera, dustywings carry their wings nearly side-by-side when at rest, whereas whiteflies carry them almost flat across the back. There are no more than two veins across the costal field, and few cross-veins in general - unique among the living net-winged insects, dustywings do not actually have the "net-winged" venation. Some Coniopterygidae, like the
genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...
''
Conwentzia ''Conwentzia'' is a genus of net-winged insects belonging to the family Coniopterygidae or ''dustywings''. ''Conwentzia'' species are present in most of Europe. These tiny insects, also known as waxwing lacewings or dustywing lacewings. They hav ...
'', have only vestigial hindwings; others, like ''
Helicoconis ''Helicoconis'' is a genus of insects belonging to the family Coniopterygidae The dustywings, Coniopterygidae, are a family of Pterygota (winged insects) of the net-winged insect order ( Neuroptera). About 460 living species are known.Engel ...
'' females, are completely wingless. Dustywings are strongly associated with woody
plant Plants are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic eukaryotes of the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all curr ...
s, on and around which they usually spend their entire lives. Females deposit their eggs singly on
bark Bark may refer to: * Bark (botany), an outer layer of a woody plant such as a tree or stick * Bark (sound), a vocalization of some animals (which is commonly the dog) Places * Bark, Germany * Bark, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland Arts, ...
or leaves. Dustywing
larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. Th ...
e are around 3.5 mm long. Their mouthparts consist of short, straight sucking tubes covered by the labrum (upper "lip"). They are
crepuscular In zoology, a crepuscular animal is one that is active primarily during the twilight period, being matutinal, vespertine, or both. This is distinguished from diurnal and nocturnal behavior, where an animal is active during the hours of dayli ...
and dwell on shrubs and
tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...
s, where they feed on small
invertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...
s like
scale insect Scale insects are small insects of the order Hemiptera, suborder Sternorrhyncha. Of dramatically variable appearance and extreme sexual dimorphism, they comprise the infraorder Coccomorpha which is considered a more convenient grouping than th ...
s,
aphid Aphids are small sap-sucking insects and members of the superfamily Aphidoidea. Common names include greenfly and blackfly, although individuals within a species can vary widely in color. The group includes the fluffy white woolly aphids. A ...
s and
mite Mites are small arachnids (eight-legged arthropods). Mites span two large orders of arachnids, the Acariformes and the Parasitiformes, which were historically grouped together in the subclass Acari, but genetic analysis does not show clear evid ...
s, as well as on
arthropod Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a Segmentation (biology), segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and Arth ...
eggs; the mouth tubes are used for sucking fluids from the prey. There are usually two
generation A generation refers to all of the people born and living at about the same time, regarded collectively. It can also be described as, "the average period, generally considered to be about 20–⁠30 years, during which children are born and gro ...
s each year.


Systematics and taxonomy

Due to the dustywings' many
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 hav ...
ies, the superfamily Coniopterygoidea was formerly believed to be
monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...
, and the primitive traits of their larvae were held to evidence a quite
basal Basal or basilar is a term meaning ''base'', ''bottom'', or ''minimum''. Science * Basal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location for features associated with the base of an organism or structure * Basal (medicine), a minimal level that is nec ...
place among the net-winged insects. But in fact the spongillaflies ( Sisyridae), formerly allied with the Osmylidae in error due to their larvae's convergent morphology, seem to be close relatives of the Coniopterygidae, more plesiomorphic altogether as adults but with a number of peculiar and highly divergent apomorphies, particularly in the larvae. So even though the spongillaflies are not generally placed in the Coniopterygoidea yet, they most likely form a clade with the dustywings and thus it would seem that the Coniopterygoidea, rather than being maintained as an unnecessarily
monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...
taxon In biology, a taxon ( back-formation from '' taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular n ...
, are better expanded to signify that the spongillaflies and the dustywings are each other's closest relatives among the net-winged insects. This is all the more significant because in this apparent clade, there would be a highly interesting and exactly opposing pattern of
evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...
- primitive larvae and highly advanced adults in the dustywings, versus primitive adults and very advanced larvae in the spongillaflies.See references in Haaramo (2008)


Genera

Numerous
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 preserved ...
taxa In biology, a taxon ( back-formation from '' taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular n ...
are known from the
Late Jurassic The Late Jurassic is the third epoch of the Jurassic Period, and it spans the geologic time from 163.5 ± 1.0 to 145.0 ± 0.8 million years ago (Ma), which is preserved in Upper Jurassic strata.Owen 1987. In European lithostratigraphy, the ...
onwards. Most of these, as well as a number of living genera, are of
basal Basal or basilar is a term meaning ''base'', ''bottom'', or ''minimum''. Science * Basal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location for features associated with the base of an organism or structure * Basal (medicine), a minimal level that is nec ...
or uncertain position in dustywing
phylogeny A phylogenetic tree (also phylogeny or evolutionary tree Felsenstein J. (2004). ''Inferring Phylogenies'' Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, MA.) is a branching diagram or a tree showing the evolutionary relationships among various biological spe ...
:Biolib
/ref> * '' Aleuropteryx'' Löw, 1855 * '' Brucheiser'' Riek, 1975 * '' Coniocompsa'' Enderlein, 1905 * ''
Coniopteryx ''Coniopteryx'' is a genus of insects belonging to the family Coniopterygidae. The genus was first described by John Curtis (entomologist), Curtis in 1834. The genus has cosmopolitan distribution. Species: * ''Coniopteryx alticola'' * ''Coniop ...
'' Curtis, 1834 * ''
Conwentzia ''Conwentzia'' is a genus of net-winged insects belonging to the family Coniopterygidae or ''dustywings''. ''Conwentzia'' species are present in most of Europe. These tiny insects, also known as waxwing lacewings or dustywing lacewings. They hav ...
'' Enderlein, 1905 * ''
Cryptoscenea ''Cryptoscenea'' is a genus of lacewings belonging to the family Coniopterygidae The dustywings, Coniopterygidae, are a family of Pterygota (winged insects) of the net-winged insect order ( Neuroptera). About 460 living species are known.Engel ...
'' Enderlein, 1914 * '' Flintoconis'' Sziráki, 2007 * ''
Helicoconis ''Helicoconis'' is a genus of insects belonging to the family Coniopterygidae The dustywings, Coniopterygidae, are a family of Pterygota (winged insects) of the net-winged insect order ( Neuroptera). About 460 living species are known.Engel ...
'' Enderlein, 1905 * '' Hemisemidalis'' Meinander, 1972 * ''
Heteroconis ''Heteroconis'' is a genus of lacewings belonging to the family Coniopterygidae The dustywings, Coniopterygidae, are a family of Pterygota (winged insects) of the net-winged insect order ( Neuroptera). About 460 living species are known.Engel ...
'' Enderlein, 1905 * ''
Neoconis ''Neoconis'' is a genus of lacewing 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 ...
'' Enderlein, 1930 * '' Neosemidali''s Enderlein, 1930 * '' Nimboa'' Navas, 1915 * '' Parasemidalis'' Enderlein, 1905 * ''
Semidalis ''Semidalis'' is a genus of insects belonging to the family Coniopterygidae. The genus has almost cosmopolitan distribution In biogeography, cosmopolitan distribution is the term for the range of a taxon that extends across all or most of ...
'' Enderlein, 1905 * ''
Spiloconis ''Spiloconis'' is a genus of lacewing 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 wi ...
'' Enderlein, 1907 * '' Vartiana'' H. Aspock & U. Aspock, 1965 The supposed
Early Jurassic The Early Jurassic Epoch (in chronostratigraphy corresponding to the Lower Jurassic Series) is the earliest of three epochs of the Jurassic Period. The Early Jurassic starts immediately after the Triassic-Jurassic extinction event, 201.3 Ma  ...
dustywing genus '' Archiconiopteryx'' actually seems to be a whitefly-like
true bug Hemiptera (; ) is an order of insects, commonly called true bugs, comprising over 80,000 species within groups such as the cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, assassin bugs, bed bugs, and shield bugs. They range in size from to arou ...
.


Extinct genera

Subfamily Aleuropteryginae * †''Burmaleuropteryx'' Bai et al. 2019
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. ...
, Myanmar, Late Cretaceous ( Cenomanian) * †''Garnaconis'' Perrichot and Nel 2014 Vendée amber, France, Late Cretaceous (
Turonian The Turonian is, in the ICS' geologic timescale, the second age in the Late Cretaceous Epoch, or a stage in the Upper Cretaceous Series. It spans the time between 93.9 ± 0.8 Ma and 89.8 ± 1 Ma (million years ago). The Turonian is preceded ...
) * †''Juraconiopteryx'' Meinander 1975 Karabastau Formation, Kazakhstan, Middle-Late Jurassic ( Callovian/ Oxfordian) * †''Libanoconis'' Engel 2002 Lebanese amber, Early Cretaceous (
Barremian The Barremian is an age in the geologic timescale (or a chronostratigraphic stage) between 129.4 ± 1.5 Ma ( million years ago) and 121.4 ± 1.0 Ma). It is a subdivision of the Early Cretaceous Epoch (or Lower Cretaceous Series). It is pre ...
), Taimyr amber, Cenomanian * †''Palaeoconis'' Ružičková et al. 2019 Burmese amber, Myanmar, Cenomanian * Tribe Coniocompsini Enderlein 1905 ** †''Archiconiocompsa'' Enderlein 1910 Baltic amber, Rovno amber,
Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', " ...
** †''Geroconiocompsa'' Engel 2010 Balic amber, Eocene * Tribe Fontenelleini ** †''Achlyoconis'' Engel 2016 Burmese amber, Myanmar, Cenomanian ** †''Alboconis'' Nel et al. 2005 Charentese amber, France, Cenomanian **†''Archiconis'' Enderlein 1930 Baltic amber, Eocene **†''Cycloconis'' Li et al. 2019 Burmese amber, Myanmar, Cenomanian **†''Glaesoconis'' Meinander 1975 Burmese amber, Myanmar, Cenomanian,
New Jersey amber New Jersey Amber, sometimes called Raritan amber, is amber found in the Raritan and Magothy Formations of the Central Atlantic (Eastern) coast of the United States. It is dated to the Late Cretaceous, Turonian age, based on pollen analysis of t ...
,
Turonian The Turonian is, in the ICS' geologic timescale, the second age in the Late Cretaceous Epoch, or a stage in the Upper Cretaceous Series. It spans the time between 93.9 ± 0.8 Ma and 89.8 ± 1 Ma (million years ago). The Turonian is preceded ...
Taimyr amber, Late Cretaceous (
Santonian The Santonian is an age in the geologic timescale or a chronostratigraphic stage. It is a subdivision of the Late Cretaceous Epoch or Upper Cretaceous Series. It spans the time between 86.3 ± 0.7 mya (million years ago) and 83.6 ± 0.7 mya. ...
) **†''Pararchiconis'' Nel 1991 Alsace, France,
Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but ...
( Rupelian) **†''Soplaoconis'' Pérez-de la Fuente et al. 2019
Spanish amber Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
, Early Cretaceous (
Albian The Albian is both an age of the geologic timescale and a stage in the stratigraphic column. It is the youngest or uppermost subdivision of the Early/Lower Cretaceous Epoch/ Series. Its approximate time range is 113.0 ± 1.0 Ma to 100.5 ± ...
) Subfamily Coniopteryginae Burmeister 1839 * Tribe Coniopterygini Burmeister 1839 ** †''Paranimboa'' Engel 2016 Burmese amber, Myanmar, Cenomanian * †tribe Phthanoconini Engel 2004 ** †''Phthanoconis'' Engel 2004 Burmese amber, Myanmar, Cenomanian * †''Libanosemidalis'' Azar et al. 2000 Lebanese amber, Barremian * †''Mulleroconis'' Ružičková et al. 2019 Burmese amber, Myanmar, Cenomanian Incertae sedis * †''Apoglaesoconis'' Grimaldi 2000 New Jersey amber, Turonian * †''Cretaconiopteryx'' Liu and Lu 2017 Burmese amber, Myanmar, Cenomanian * †''Jurasiatypus'' Kaddumi 2005 Jordanian amber, Albian


References

* (2007): The neuropterid fauna of Dominican and Mexican amber (Neuropterida, Megaloptera, Neuroptera). ''American Museum Novitates'' 3587: 1-58
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:''This article draws heavily on the corresponding article in the German-language Wikipedia.'' {{Taxonbar, from=Q2061605 Neuroptera Neuroptera families