''Libelloides coccajus'', the "owly sulphur", is an owlfly species belonging to the family

Ascalaphidae 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 Diurnality, diurnal predators of other flying insects, and have large bulging eyes and ...

, subfamily

Ascalaphinae Ascalaphinae is the type subfamily of the neuropteran owlfly family. Most species are found in the tropics. Their characteristic apomorphy , shared with the Ululodinae, is the ridge which divides each of their large compound eyes; both groups are ...

Distribution

This rare insect is present in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

Habitat

These owlflies mainly inhabit areas with tall grass and sunny rocky slopes, at an elevation up to above sea level. They have been sighted at elevations of up to on the French/Italian border in the high

Susa Valley The Susa Valley (; ; ; ; ) is a valley in the Metropolitan City of Turin, Piedmont region of northern Italy, located between the Graian Alps in the north and the Cottian Alps in the south. It is one of the longest valleys of the Italian Alps. ...

Description

The adults reach of length, with a wingspan of .Galerie-insecte
The body is black and quite hairy. The eyes are large and bulging; the antennae are long and clubbed. The wings do not have scales and are partly transparent, with bright yellow areas in the first third, dark brown on the external side. An elongated black area is present towards the end of the posterior edge of the wing. The venation is black. The wings are held spread at rest, as in

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 ...

. This species is rather similar to ''

Libelloides lacteus ''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) * ' ...

''.

Taxonomy

The ''Libelloides italicus''

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * ...

in the

University of Copenhagen Zoological Museum The Copenhagen Zoological Museum ( Danish: ''Zoologisk Museum'') was a separate zoological museum in Copenhagen, Denmark. It is now a part of the Natural History Museum of Denmark, which is affiliated with the University of Copenhagen. The separa ...

does not correspond to any

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

species of Ascalaphidae living exclusively in the Italian peninsula and it is now considered to be a junior

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

of ''Libelloides coccajus''.Pantaleoni , R. A. and A. Letardi What is the real name of the Italian Ascalaphid ''Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae'' 48 (Suppl. 2), pp. 253–264, 2002 http://actazool.nhmus.hu/48Suppl2/pantaleo.pdf

Biology

Adults can be encountered from April through July. They are diurnal

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 ...

s of other flying insects. Eggs are laid in groups on stems of herbaceous plants. Larvae are fearsome predators too. They lie on the soil surface waiting for prey. They live for about two years. Owly sulphur

Gallery

File:Owlfly (Libelloides coccajus) female with eggs (14503839164).jpg, Female with eggs File:Naturkundliche Sammlung Übermaxx Überseemuseum Bremen 0122.JPG, Museum specimen

References

Neuroptera of Europe Ascalaphidae Insects described in 1775 Libelloides {{Neuroptera-stub