Moved from ID Request.

This move is based entirely on the detailed information provided by Jonathan in the comments below. (I don't personally have the deep knowledge of Neuroptera, necessary to assess such things.) It seems like a good idea though to keep this seemingly quite plausible larva on this page with the adult images for the time being.

… though Joseph understates the potential novelty. As of the 2000 rediscovery of the species, the larva hadn't been described at all. That being said, the markings on the head capsule are very much what would be expected for a Nineta larva. The third photo on the iNat submission is perhaps the most useful to see these.

Of our taxa, there are 7 "naked" genera as larvae. Most are readily ruled out:
• Chrysoperla - markings on the head capsule don't align with any of our described species, and the tubercles are much less prominent
• Chrysopa - both tubercles and setae are significantly less prominent here
• Meleoma - both tubercles and setae are significantly less prominent here
• Nacarina - not known in our covered area outside of Florida and North Carolina
• Pimachrysa - not known in our covered area outside of the desert southwest
• Plesiochrysa - not known in our covered area outside of the Florida Keys

Nineta is what remains, and the non-prominence of the tubercles aligns with other species that do have described larva. Really, the only alternative genera in this range are Chrysoperla and Chryspoa, which are morphologically excluded.

Insofar as Nineta, we have 2 species in our area that are fairly geographically distinct. N. gravida is pretty much coastal and (essentially) west of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Ranges while N. nanina is more of an interior species distinctly east of these ranges (and thus far not above 40°N latitude).

I would presume this has to be N. gravida. If you find any more larvae with these markings on the head, I would recommend seeing if they can be reared to adulthood to get a definitive association.

What's even more interesting about Nineta gravida is that there were no specimens collected for over 90 years after the original specimens (described in 1911, latest collected in 1908). A 1999 interception made for a single live record in a span of over 100 years. Now with online citizen science, there have been at least 12 confirmed adults just within the span of 2019-2023. This means that more specimens have been observed in the recent half decade than had been observed in about a century and a decade prior.