Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada

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Genus Lomamyia

Representative Images

Brown lacewing at black light - Lomamyia  No idea. Lacewing? Caddisfly? - Lomamyia Lomamyia sp. - Lomamyia Caddisfly? - Lomamyia Lomamyia Lomamyia squamosa Lomamyia Genus Beaded Lacewing - Lomamyia Lomamyia Genus Beaded Lacewing? - Lomamyia

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Neuroptera (Antlions, Lacewings, and Allies)
Suborder Hemerobiiformia (Lacewings and Allies)
Family Berothidae (Beaded Lacewings)
Genus Lomamyia

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

revised in (1) (unpublished thesis)

Explanation of Names

Lomamyia Banks 1904
'fringed fly'(2)

Numbers

10 described spp. in our area(3); 4 spp. in FL(4)
1. Lomamyia banksi Carpenter, 1940: eastern to midwestern (AL, AR, DC, FL, IL, IN, KS, LA, MI, MO, MS, NC, NY, OK, SC, TX, VA)
2. Lomamyia flavicornis (Walker, 1853): eastern (AL, AR, DC, FL, GA, IN, KS, KY, LA, MD, MS, NC, NJ, NY, PA, SC, TX, VA)
3. Lomamyia fulva Carpenter, 1940: CA
4. Lomamyia hamata (Walker, 1853): FL, SC?
5. Lomamyia latipennis Carpenter, 1940: western (AZ, CA, NV)
6. Lomamyia longicollis (Walker, 1853): southeastern (FL, GA, MD, MS, NC, SC)
7. Lomamyia occidentalis (Banks, 1905): western (Canada: BC; United States: AZ, CA, NV)
8. Lomamyia squamosa Carpenter, 1940: southwestern (AZ, CA, NV, NM, TX)
9. Lomamyia tenuis Carpenter, 1940: southwestern (AZ, NM, NV, TX)
10. Lomamyia texana (Banks, 1897): southwestern (AZ, CA, NV, NM, TX, UT)

1 unnamed species reported by Faulkner (1992) in our area(1) has not been included in published material
1. Lomamyia N sp. 1: northwestern (n. CA, ID, s. OR)

Identification

similar to brown lacewings but have falcate forewings -- L. occidentalis is an exception(1)
key to spp. in (1)

Range

mostly so. US, esp. the southwest; 2 eastern spp. range north to NY, the western L. occidentalis, to BC(3)

Life Cycle

Eggs are stalked, laid on wood surfaces near termite nests. Larvae live with and prey on termites, using an immobilizing gas (containing an allomone) discharged from their anus(5)(Johnson & Hagen 1981). Adults come to lights.

Print References

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

Works Cited

1.A revision of the genus Lomamyia Banks (Planipennia: Berothidae) with an emphasis on the western United States species
Faulkner D.K. 1992. California State U., Long Beach, CA, xii+119 pp [Master's thesis].
2.Dictionary of Word Roots and Combining Forms
Donald J. Borror. 1960. Mayfield Publishing Company.
3.Species catalog of the Neuroptera, Megaloptera, and Raphidioptera of America North of Mexico
Penny N.D., Adams P.A., Stange L.A. 1997. Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 50: 39‒114.
4.A Checklist and Bibliography of the Megaloptera and Neuroptera of Florida (by L. Stange)
5.Borror and DeLong's Introduction to the Study of Insects
Norman F. Johnson, Charles A. Triplehorn. 2004. Brooks Cole.