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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Antlions, Lacewings and Allies (Neuroptera) » Beaded Lacewings (Berothidae)

Family Berothidae - Beaded Lacewings

Classification · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Size · Identification · Food · Life Cycle · Remarks · See Also · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Neuroptera (Antlions, Lacewings and Allies)

Family Berothidae (Beaded Lacewings)

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

Berothidae Handlirsch 1908.

Explanation of Names

Family name is from Old World genus Berotha Walker, 1860. That likely from the Biblical place-name, usually spelled Beeroth--corresponding to modern Beirut. A related name, and a possible origin, is Beroe (Βεροη), an ocean-nymph of Greek mythology, associated with Beeroth (1) (2) (Theoi--Greek Mythology).

Numbers

One North American genus, Lomamyia, with 12 species (3).

Size

Over 8mm (4)

Identification

Antenna shorter than forewing, with enlarged base and without a club (5). Some species, including all(?) of our one genus, Lomamyia, have a distinctive indentation beyond the apex of the forewing (4). See these photos, for example:

Wing venation:

Food

Adults, perhaps, do not feed.

Life Cycle

Eggs are stalked, laid on wood surfaces near termite nests. Larvae (of Lomamyia, at least) live with and prey on termites, using an immobilizing gas (containing an allomone) discharged from their anus (3)(6) (Johnson and Hagen, 1981). Adults come to lights.

Remarks

Though relatively rare, adults are frequently attracted to lights (6). The North American species are poorly known (3).

See Also

Hemerobiidae - Brown Lacewings

Print References

Borror, entry for beroe (1)

The Century Dictionary, entry for Beroe (2)

Adult photo, fig. 23.9, page 348, Arnett (3)

Johnson, J. B. and K. S. Hagen (1981). A neuropterous larva uses an allomone to attack termites. Nature 289: 506 - 507 (abstract)

Internet References

Australian Biological Resources

Works Cited

1.	Dictionary of Word Roots and Combining Forms By Donald J. Borror

2.	The Century Dictionary: an encyclopedic lexicon of the English language

3.	American Insects: A Handbook of the Insects of America North of Mexico By Ross H. Arnett

4.	A Field Guide to Insects By Richard E. White, Donald J. Borror, Roger Tory Peterson

5.	A Dictionary of Entomology By George Gordh, David H. Headrick

6.	Borror and DeLong's Introduction to the Study of Insects By Norman F. Johnson, Charles A. Triplehorn

Contributed by Troy Bartlett on 8 March, 2005 - 12:16am
Additional contributions by cotinis
Last updated 30 June, 2009 - 8:09am

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