Abstract
ABSTRACT The complex taxonomy of Albardia furcata van der Weele is totally related to the unique characters of the adults, which hinder a morphological comparison with other owlfly genera. The behavior and life history of the immature stages of A. furcata are known, but the larval morphology remains undescribed. Herein, we present a morphological description of the A. furcata larva, the most iconic Neotropical owlfly (Myrmeleontidae: Ascalaphinae), a Brazilian species endemic to Cerrado, Caatinga, and Atlantic Forest biomes. The morphological description of the larva was based on three third instar larvae collected in areas of Cerrado and reared at laboratory conditions. We provide high-resolution images from the life cycle, including immature and adults, as well as an updated distributional map. Comments are done on the similarities and differences of the larva regarding other owlflies species and also on biogeography in Neotropical region.
Highlights
Albardia furcata van der Weele is the unique species of Albardia van der Weele, a genus endemic to Brazil, with records from Cerrado, Caatinga, and Atlantic Forest biomes
The genus was inserted in the family Ascalaphidae (Weele, 1903), and few years later, it was placed by the same author (Weele, 1908) in the monotypic tribe Albardiini, which together with Stilbopterygini composed a new subfamily, Protoascalaphinae, based on their putative plesiomorphic characteristics, such as: the antennae short with a thickened club, large compound
The specimens were reared under controlled conditions of temperature, light, and humidity in a climatic chamber regulated to 23° ± 1.0° C, 60 ± 10% relative humidity (RH), 12-h photoperiod
Summary
Albardia furcata van der Weele is the unique species of Albardia van der Weele, a genus endemic to Brazil, with records from Cerrado, Caatinga, and Atlantic Forest biomes. It is one of the most iconic Neotropical owlflies (Myrmeleontidae: Ascalaphinae) based on its unique morphological characters, such as: the large, robust, and orangish body, the large and undivided eyes, short and capitated antennae, and the large and peculiar male genitalia (Weele, 1903, 1908) (Figure 1a). This classification was posteriorly followed by most taxonomic papers focusing the Ascalaphidae in the traditional sense (Penny, 1983; Williner, 1991; Tjeder, 1992; Ardila-Camacho et al, 2019; Jones, 2019)
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