Abstract
Investigation of a large collection of Neuroptera from Northeastern Nigeria stored untouched in alcohol for four decades in the National Museum of Natural History, Sofia, provided the opportunity to examine unpublished specimens and conduct a thorough review of published literature, establishing the first comprehensive inventory of Ascalaphidae, Palparidae, and Myrmeleontidae of Northeastern Nigeria to date. Specimens had been collected between 1976 and 1978 in Northeastern Nigeria, mostly in Jos City and Plateau State. Five species of Ascalaphidae, four of Palparidae, and 26 of Myrmeleontidae were identified. Bankisus beroni sp. n. and Creoleon nigrithorax sp. n. are described. Gymnoleon gaillardi is not considered a synonym of Gymnoleon exilis and a new synonymy is established: Gymnoleon externus (Navás, 1911) (= Gymnoleon gaillardi Navás, 1912, syn. n.). An examination of unpublished specimens in museum collections and an exhaustive literature review were conducted in order to draw up a comprehensive inventory of the fauna of Northeastern Nigeria, which to date comprises 11 species of Ascalaphidae, 12 species of Palparidae, and 34 species of Myrmeleontidae, of which one species of Ascalaphidae, two species of Palparidae, and 16 species of Myrmeleontidae, as well as the genera Brevibarbis, Bankisus, and Capicua, had not been reported to occur in Nigeria. The chorological information on the genus Bankisus is reviewed, the ranges of the species are critically discussed and corrected, and all known localities are indicated on a map. Bankisus oculatus is reported for the first time from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The first recording of Centroclisis lineatipennis in West Africa is reported. Palpares cataractae and Palpares radiatus are deleted from the list of Nigerian fauna. With these new records, the known ranges of eight species are extended by more than 1400 km. In the process of assessing the geographical distribution of species present in Northeastern Nigeria, six species, as well as the genera Myrmecaelurus and Cueta and the tribe Nesoleontini, are reported for the first time from Burkina Faso.
Highlights
Nigeria is the largest and most geophysically diverse country in West Africa, with climatic zones ranging from arid Sahelian regions in the North to rain forest in the Southeast
We propose a comprehensive inventory of the fauna of Ascalaphidae, Palparidae, and Myrmeleontidae in Northern Nigeria, based on the Sofia Museum material, with reference to other information available in the literature, complemented with relevant material present in public or private collections and unpublished to date
The genera Brevibarbis, Bankisus, and Capicua, as well as one species of Ascalaphidae, two species of Palparidae, and 16 species of Myrmeleontidae are reported from Nigeria for the first time, of which two species are new to science
Summary
Nigeria is the largest and most geophysically diverse country in West Africa, with climatic zones ranging from arid Sahelian regions in the North to rain forest in the Southeast. In a literature review of the antlions and owlflies of West Africa from Senegal to Nigeria, Michel and Akoudjin listed 20 species of Palparidae, 98 species of Received: 29 September 2021; accepted: 8 November 2021 · Editor: Mario Langourov. The most recent and frequent reference provided to extend to Nigeria the distribution of many species does not provide either a regional breakdown nor any time frame for specimen collections (Medler, 1980). The vast majority of specimens have been collected in the southern part of the country and in the Adamawa Mountains, close to the Cameroon border, the richest region in terms of quantity and diversity, and a part of the country which has been better investigated.
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