The Neuroptera of São Tomé e Principe

Abstract

Two new entomological surveys were carried out in the República Democrática de São Tomé e Principe in 2019 (earlier surveys were in 1956 and 2001). Of 16 species of Neuroptera identified, only one, a Mantispidae, appears endemic to the archipelago. Chrysopidae and Hemerobiidae account for the majority of species and individuals collected, concentrated here in plantations and anthropized environments, and known to be widely distributed in Africa and even worldwide. Unusually, the family Coniopterygidae is again absent, this time on natural terrains, confirming its earlier absence in 2001 on anthropized and plantation terrains. The findings and ecological distribution support the hypothesis that Hemerobiidae and Chrysopidae were introduced with cash crop cultivation, some of them as late as the 19th century. Their isolation in island environments is probably too recent to have allowed speciation mechanisms to generate endemic species in São Tomé.