Mesomantispinae Makarkin 1996
- Dataset
- New Mesomantispinae (Insecta: Neuroptera: Mantispidae) from the Jurassic of Karatau, Kazakhstan
- Rank
- SUBFAMILY
Classification
- kingdom
- Animalia
- phylum
- Arthropoda
- class
- Insecta
- order
- Neuroptera
- family
- Mantispidae
description
Nothing is known about the larvae of mesomantispinae, therefore no interpretations about larval lifestyle can be made, such as whether they had a relationship with spiders, as observed in modern Mantispinae and some extinct taxa (Ohl, 2004). The genera of Mesomantispinae are mostly differentiated on their body morphology, for example the structure of their raptorial forelegs, which is quite variable, ranging from clubbed, oval, to slender. Variation is also observed with the length of the pronotum, which ranges from relatively short to elongate. The wing venation on the whole is similar between the genera, however, some venation characters can be used to group genera together. Examples of this are the crossveins within the CuP area, separating Mesomantispa from the other genera, and also the structure of CuP, whether it is pectinate (Clavifemora, Sinomesomantispa, Archaeodrepanicus) or non-pectinate (Karataumantispa, Ovalofemora gen. nov., Longicollum gen. nov.). Below is a key of Mesomantispinae genera, updated from Jepson (2015) to include the newly described genera: