....4cta ent. bohemoslov., 68 : 167-184, 1971 GREEN LACE-WINGS OF CZECHOSLOVAKI~"­ (NEUROPTERA, CHRYSOPID.ilE) JIRI ZELENY Institute of Entomology, Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, Praha Received May 14, 1970 Green lace-wings (Chrysopidae), especially their larvae, are of great import­ ance as natural aphid enemies. Though much attention has been paid to this family of the N europtera, knowledge of the bionomy and ecology of Czechoslovak species is still insufficient and more detailed data on the distribution of Ohrysopidae in Czechoslovakia are needed. In this paper I summarise the existing data on the distribution of the species, their abundance and dominance, with notes on their bionomy and on the dates of emergence according to the study of my own material as well as that in our museums. The first papers concerning Chrysopidae of Czechoslovakia are by BRAUER & Low (1857) and SCHNEIDER (1885), and include 15 species (the other 6 are synonyms). The localities are not mentioned in these publications, nor in the paper by KLAPALEK (1895), who gives a survey of Czech Neuroptera, including 17 species of Ohrysopidae (the other 2 species are synonyms). Later papers with details of collections and records from various regions of Czechoslovakia are: KLAPALEK (1901, 1903, 1904a,b) giving species from Bohemia and Moravia, PONGRACZ (1912, 1913, 1914), MOCSA.RY (1918), FEKETE (1926, 1929) those from Slovakia. Other authors SA-MAL (1920), RIEDL (1925), SLAVicEK (1930) mention only one or two very common species. BALTHASAR (1938) gives 5 species from Slovakia. PFEFFER (1954) states that C. vulgaris and C. phyllochroma are important as natural aphid enemies in forests. BARTOS (1959) issued a key for 20 species from Czecho­ slovakia (the other species is a synonym), without localities, with notes on biotopes and on the time of emergence. Other authors, SKUHRAVY ~ NOVA.K (1957), SKUHRAVY, NOVAK & STARY (1959), MARTINEK (1960), STEPANO­ VICOVA. & BELAKOVA. (1960), DOSKOCIL & HURK.A. (1962), WEISMANN & VALLO (1963), OBRTEL (1969), ZELENY & HRDY (1969), CERNY & DOSKOCIL (1969) found the most common species as part of the insect fauna during the study of biocenoses of fields or forests. TEYROVSKY (1961, 1964) studied Chrysopidae on various biotopes in Silesia and near Tovacov in Hana. In recent years some species have been me",ntioned by ZELENY (1962, 1964, 1965, 1969) and HODEK, HOLMAN, STARY, STYS & ZELENY (1966) who have observed mainly the abundance of various species on agriculttlral plants. The European species and those species of .L~sia ~rinor and Central Asia have been sttldied by'" NAVAS (1915), and ill recent ~years particularly by PRINCIPI (1956), KIS (1959, 1968), ASPOCK H. & U. (1964, 1969a,b), STEINMANN (1964, 1967). HOLZEL (1965, 1967), EGLIN (1967, 1968a,b), ICKERT (1968), KIS, NAGLER & MANDRU (1970). The South African species of the fa lllily· Chrysopidae and the classification of genera and subgenera 167 have been studied particularly by TJEDER (1966), and tIle classification of the genera of the sllbfamily Notochrysin,ae has been clarified b~y ....~DAl\IS (1967). M,A.TERIAL In addition to my o'\vn collections from 1965-1969 material has also been studied from various other sources: from collaborators in the Institute of Entomology of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, especially froIn Dr. K. Novak, (coIl. Zeleny); staff members at the Natural Sciences Faculty of Charles University in Prague (colI. Zelen)T); the collections of the Department of Entomology, the National Museum of Natural History, Praha-Kunratice (colI. NMP); the collections of the Moravian Museum in Brno (coIl. MMB); material from Dr. Brtek from Slovakia - Vlastivedne muzeum Bojnice (Natural History and Historical Museum in Bojnice, coll. VMB); and from other workers (coIl. Zeleny'). I express my thanks to all of them. The classification of genus and subgenus The family Chrysopidae is represented in Czechoslovakia by 5 genera in two subfamilies. Three genera have been so far commonly acknowledged by various authors, i.e. Hypochrysa, in Czechoslovakia one species: H. per­ nobilis; Notochrysa, in Czechoslovakia two species: N. fulviceps and N. capi­ tata; and the genus Chrysopa which in Czechoslovakia is represented by twenty species. Various authors have tried to divide the genus Chrysopa into several groups of species, subgenera or genera. In the present paper the genus Chrysopa s. lat. is divided according to TJEDER (1966) into the genus Nineta with three species: Nin. vittata, Nin. flava and Nin. paZZida; the genus Chrysotropia with the species Ohr. ciliata; and the genus Ohrysopa with the sixteen remaining species. The genera N ineta and Chrysotropia are, ho,vever, not commonly acknowledged (ASPOCK H. & U., 1969) even though they distinctly differ from each other, and from Chrysopa s. str. by some n10rphological characters e.g. in shape of the mandibles, in size, in wing venation, in male and female genitalia, in lTIorphology of the larvae and the food of the adults. A non-uniform evalllation of the importance of characters results especially from the fact that there are transitions between the named genera, and the genus Ohrysotropia is in reality the transitional genus between the genera Nineta and Chrysopa. The genus Ohrysopa is re­ presented in Czechoslovakia by five subgenera: Ohrysoperla, Apertochrysa, Suarius, Anisochrysa" Chrysopa. Notes on tIle variation of wing venation When determining the species of the family Ohrysopidae, the course of the pseudomedia (Psm) and pseudocubitus (Psc) and their connection to the outer or inner series of gradates and the shape of the first intermedian cell (im) (Fig. 1) are important characters for the basic division of the family. In Hypochrysa the im cell is triangular and OCCllrs in the rear part of the rn3 cell (sooner also the third cubital cell). In Notochrysa im cell is subquadran­ gular and sometimes accessory crossveins lie over it (Fig. 2). In genera N ineta, Chrysotropia and Ohrysopa im cell is in the typical case triangular (Fig. 3-6) and is in the front part of m3 cell. Cell im however, especially in the genus ChrYSOpa, shows considerable variation in some species and transitions occur from the triangular shape (Fig. 3-6) to the typical quadr­ angular shape (Fig. 7-14) as in Notochrysa, described sometimes as "noto­ chrysoid shape" of im cell. OHM (1961) carried out an analysis of the indivi- 168 Sc Rs , g --0 g ,I I~~.~~ '. JI __~ __~~~, '" ~~ ~~-~~_~ '\ , Psm 1 Cu PSC Fig. 1: Forewing of green lace-wings (Ohrysopa prasina). Psm - pseudomedia, Psc - pseudocubitus. im - 1st interrnedian cell, 1111, lu2, m3 - Illedian cell, ig - inner series of gradates, og - outer series of gradates. duals of species in the genus Chrysopa s. lat. a,nd ascertained a quadrangular shape of im cell in 30~0 of individuals in some species, in other species less % than 10 , and in some species this anolnaly wa,s not found by him. ASPOCK H. & U. (1964) state that similar variation found in species in Germany occurs also in Austria. GREEVE (1969) mentions this anomaly from Norway, in Czechoslovakia TEYROVSKY (1961) gives similar examples in C. perla. In the specimens fron1 Czechoslovakia the frequency of the "notochrysoid shape" of im cell has not been ascertained. I observed, however, a quadr­ allgular im cell in Nin. vittata (Fig. 8), Chr. ciliata (Fig. 9), O. carnea (Fig. 10), c. albol1~neata (Fig. 7), C. flavifrons, C. ventralis (Fig. 11), O. prasina, C. septempunctata (Fig. 14), O. phyllochroma, C. commata (Fig. 13), C. abbre­ viata*), C. perla (Fig. 12), C. dorsalis. The transitory shapes between the triangular and the quadranglllar im cell do of course invariably occur, it depends mainly on the time when little veins Ml+2 and M3+4 connect again after disconnection. The course of the veins on the left and on the right 'ving may differ. Also tlhe first rs-m crossvein is significant for determi­ nation. In C. carnea it reaches as far as behind the im cell or to its limit (similarly as in C. gracilis where it passes most often to the place of the connection Mrl+2 and M 3 + 4 ), but there are also transition and the crossvein may also re~ch- -to im cell. In other species of the genus Chrysopa (Fig. 1) the first cros!tVein rs-m reaches always to im cell, however there occurs a variation in the shift of the crossvein to nearly behind this cell (Fig. 5). In the species from the genus Nineta and Ch,rysopa which have not been mentioned above, I ascertained so far only a typical triangular im cell. Because of the above Inentioned variation of "the wings it is not possible to determine species according to one character only, and several characters, illcluding those on the posterior segments of the abdomen and especially'" the genitalia, should be studied. TIle zoogeographic characteristics of Ohrysopidae of Czechoslovakia (faunistic elements) 0 1. The Holarctic element: Nin·. flava, O. carttea, 8.7 / 0 of species. 2. The Palea,rctic elelnellt: C. abbreviata, C. albolineata" C. flavifrons, 169 Figs. 2-14. Varialiion of im cell and the atypical venation in some spe­ cies: 2 - N otochrysa julviceps, 3 - Ohrysopa carnea, 4 - o. gracilis, 5 - Ohrysotropia ciliata, 6 - Ohrysopa prasina, 7 - O. albolineata, 8 - Ninefa vittata, 9 - Ohrysotropia ciliata, 10 - Ohrysopa carnea, 11 - O. ventrali8, 12 - O. perla, 13 - O. commata, 14 - O.8eptempunctata. c. pkyllockroma, C. prasina, C. septempunctata; the species of the north and the temperate zone of the Palearctic region - Nin. vittata, Okra ciliata, C. perla; the South-Palearctic species - O. formosa; 43.50/0 of species. 3. The European element, distributed throughout whole of Europe - N. capitata, N. fulviceps, O. commata~, O. dorsalis, O. ventralis; 21.8010 of species; distribution in Central Europe - H. pernobilis, Nin. pallida, C. gracilis; 13% of species. 4. The Mediterranean element: O.