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Photo#296231
Wing venation of an Owlfly - Ululodes macleayanus

Wing venation of an Owlfly - Ululodes macleayanus
Wing venation of Ululodes. From Comstock, Introduction to Entomology, p. 305, fig. 347 (1).

Moved
Moved from Split-eyed Owlflies. See comment below.

Tracing taxonomy
The original name used for the figure is Ululodes hyalina [!] (misspelled from Ululodes hyaninus). The figure is adapted from one by McClendon (1902) and came from a specimen reported from Galveston, Texas, as Ulula hyanina. At the time, the name was applied to a broad population that's now considered (at least) two distinct species.

The first species, to which the name has been synonized, is Ululodes cajennensis . It occurs from Mexico throughout much of the Neotropics. So as presently understood, that wouldn't be the species from Texas.

The second species is Ululodes macleayanus. At the time McClendon (1902) was published, U. macleayanus was considered a synonym of U. hyalina. McClendon's paper also denotes his species as the senior synonym of U. senex, which has been retained as a synonym of U. macleayanus rather than of U. cajennensis.

Both species are treated by Penny (2002) on pp. 185-186 (26-27 of the PDF) insofar as both species co-occur in Costa Rica. Both species have each pterostigma effectively the same color. In U. cajennensis, both are pale; in U. macleayanus, both are darkly pigmented. Figures of each species' wings are on p. 299 (140 of the PDF).

Further, McClendon's original figure does demonstrate pigmented pterostigmas This is visible but not as evident in BHL's scan of Comstock (1918). The Lacewing Digital Library has a cleaner B/W scan. Given the range and pigmentation, it seems that the specimen figured by McClendon (1902) and Comstock (1918) should correspond to the current understanding of Ululodes macleayanus. This is also the synonymy reported in Shetlar's 1977 dissertation regarding McClendon's figure, though other points of Shelton's Ululodes taxonomy (e.g. the absence of U. mexicanus and U. nigripes) are, themselves, no longer up to date.

If desired, this figure could be moved further to U. macleayanus.

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