''Nemoptera'' is a

Palearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is a biogeographic realm of the Earth, the largest of eight. Confined almost entirely to the Eastern Hemisphere, it stretches across Europe and Asia, north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. Th ...

genus of

insect Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...

s of the spoonwing family,

Nemopteridae Nemopteridae, the spoonwings, are a family of neuropteran insects. They are also called thread-winged antlions. They are found in the Ethiopian, Palearctic, Australasian and Neotropical realms but absent in North America (though a fossil has bee ...

. All species are diurnal with an exclusively floral diet, preferring to fly in open spaces in full sunshine while visiting flowers. They can be recognized by their very long hind wing prolongations.

Taxonomy

The genus contains seven species, three of which are found in Europe. * '' Nemoptera aegyptiaca'' Rambur, 1842 * '' Nemoptera alba'' Olivier, 1811 * '' Nemoptera bipennis'' (Illiger, 1812), syn. ''Nemoptera lusitanica'' (Leach, 1815) * '' Nemoptera coa'' (

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

, 1758) * '' Nemoptera orientalis'' Olivier in Bonnaterre et al., 1828 * '' Nemoptera rachelii'' U. Aspöck et al., 2006 * '' Nemoptera sinuata'' Olivier, 1811 The African species '' Nemia karrooa'' was formerly placed in this genus.Illustrated database of Neuroptera (insects) - ''Nemoptera karrooa''
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References

External links

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Taxonomicon - Genus ''Nemoptera''
Neuroptera Neuroptera genera {{Neuroptera-stub