Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
Clickable Guide
Moths Butterflies Flies Caterpillars Flies Dragonflies Flies Mantids Cockroaches Bees and Wasps Walkingsticks Earwigs Ants Termites Hoppers and Kin Hoppers and Kin Beetles True Bugs Fleas Grasshoppers and Kin Ticks Spiders Scorpions Centipedes Millipedes

Calendar

TaxonomyBrowseInfoImagesLinksBooksData
Photo#140444
Pleasing Lacewing - Nallachius americanus - male

Pleasing Lacewing - Nallachius americanus - Male
Duke Forest off of Hwy 751, Orange County, North Carolina, USA
August 25, 2007
Size: 2.7 mm body length
Yeehaw!!! is all I can say. There were two of these at a lighted sheet (mercury vapor lamp) set up by graduate students from Duke University as part of a field trip. We had thought it was a moth, but one of the students voiced the opinion that it was a neuopteran. I got good photos of this one, and managed to photograph the other one (both males, with the pectinate antennae) against a scale. Wingspan was 7 mm, body length 3 mm (without antennae).

Now the title illustration for the Tree of Life page on Dilaridae.

Also a little point of interest for me is that this is not in Brimley's Insects of North Carolina (1). Despite it being published in 1938, the collecting was done over a very long period, and it is unusual that I find a species not included in it.
Image updated 9/2/18.

#140444 Identification – Nallachius americanus
Identification confirmed.

What wonderful photo
of a wondrous insect! I suggested to my wife that the wings, albeit enlarged, might be an idea for a fascinating knitting project for her third graders.
Now someone needs to find a female with its long ovipositor.
A fascinating read on the larval habitat & development of this species: MacLeod and Spiegler (1961; see INFO page).

Congratulations!
Congratulations!

Pleasing, indeed
Nice find, and Yeehaw really does sum it up. Good going, Patrick.

Comment viewing options
Select your preferred way to display the comments and click 'Save settings' to activate your changes.