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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Antlions, Lacewings, and Allies (Neuroptera) » Lacewings and Allies (Hemerobiiformia) » Brown Lacewings (Hemerobiidae) » Hemerobiinae » Hemerobius

Genus Hemerobius

Classification · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Identification · Range · Works Cited

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 Hemerobiidae (Brown Lacewings)

Subfamily Hemerobiinae

Genus Hemerobius

Explanation of Names

Hemerobius Linnaeus 1758

Greek hemera (ημερα) 'day' + bios (βιοσ) 'life'(1)

Numbers

14 spp. in our area(2), >180 spp. worldwide(3)

1.Hemerobius alpestris: southwest (AZ, CO)

2. Hemerobius bistrigatus: western (Canada: BC; United States: CA, ID, OR)

3. Hemerobius conjunctus: widespread(Canada: AB, BC, LB, MB, NF, NS, ON, PE, QC, SK, YT; United States: AK, CO, IN, ME, MN, MT, NC, NH, NM, NY, TN, VT, WI, WY)

4. Hemerobius costalis: northern (Canada: AB, BC, NS, NT, ON, QC, SK, YT; United States: AK, CO, MA, ME, NH, VT)

5. Hemerobius discretus: southern & western (Canada: BC; United States: AZ, CA, CO, LA, NM, OK, OR, TX, UT)

6. Hemerobius dorsatus: primarily northern (Canada: AB, BC, NT, ON, QC, SK, YT; United States: AK, CO, UT)

7. Hemerobius humulinus: widespread (Canada: AB, BC, MB, NF, NS, ON, QC, SK, YT; United States: AK, CO, DC, FL, GA, IN, KS, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, NC, ND, NH, NJ, NY, PA, SD, TN, TX, VA, WA, WI)

8. Hemerobius kokaneeanus: western (Canada: BC, MB, QC, YT; United States: AK, CA, CO, MT, NV, WA)

9. Hemerobius nigrans western (Canada: BC, YT; United States: CA, CO, WY)

10. Hemerobius ovalis: western & northeastern (Canada: AB, BC, NF, QC, YT; United States: AK, CA, OR, UT WA, WY)

11. Hemerobius pacificus: primarily western (Canada: AB, BC, MB, SK; United States: AK, AZ, CA, CO, ID, IN, MT, NM, NV, OR, TX, UT, WA)

12. Hemerobius pinidumus: primarily northern (Canada: AB, BC, QC; United States: CO, IN, MA, ME, MN, NH, NJ, NY, WI)

13. Hemerobius simulans: northern & western(Canada: AB, BC, MB, NB, NF, NS, ON, QC, SK, YT; United States: AK, CO, MA, ME, MI, NH, NV, NY)

14. Hemerobius stigma: widespread (Canada: AB, BC, LB, MB, NF, NS, ON, QC, SK, YT; United States: AK, AZ, CA, CO, DC, FL, IA, ID, IN, KS, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, NC, NJ, NM, NV, NY, TX, WA, WI)

Identification

From other genera of brown lacewings

Note comparatively large eye, structure of mouthparts--palps with an apiculus (thin, projecting point). Compare heads of Hemerobius and Micromus below and see discussion under the left-hand image of Hemerobius:

Hemerobius vs. Symperhobius wing venation and the shape of the head:

Two wide-ranging species can be separated as follows(4):

Pronotum and mesonotum with broad yellow stripe; wing without pigmented pterostigma; upper process of male ectoproct forked distally ---> H. humulinus

Pronotum and mesonotum with, at most, a narrow median stripe (often absent); wing often with distinctly pigmented pterostigma; mesonotum without defined stripe (Fig. 17); upper process of male ectoproct not forked ---> H. stigma

Range

across NA; most diverse in the north and in the west: all but one spp. recorded in Canada, with just one Holarctic sp. reaching FL(2)

Works Cited

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

2.	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.

3.	Neuropterida Species of the World catalogue (by J.D. Oswald)

4.	Brown Lacewings of Florida

Contributed by Mike Boone on 18 August, 2006 - 11:13am
Additional contributions by cotinis, Beatriz Moisset, v belov, PaleoJon
Last updated 17 January, 2021 - 5:49pm

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