Macronemurus appendiculatus
Creators: name: Badano, Davide
name: Pantaleoni, Roberto Antonio
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2014
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Neuroptera
Myrmeleontidae
Macronemurus
Macronemurus appendiculatus

description: Macronemurus appendiculatus (Latreille, 1807)
(Figs. 1C, 3F, 4F, 11)
The 1 st instar larva of this species was concisely described and illustrated by Insom et al. (1985), not providing any diagnostic character.
Examined specimens. France. Gard, Pompignan, scrubland, VII.2011 (B. Michel & D. Badano), 1 L3. Italy. Liguria, 1 L3 laboratory-reared from a female collected at Pompeiana (Imperia), scrubland, VII.2010 (D. Badano). Liguria, Cipressa (Imperia), Colla Caravella, at the base of a pine tree, 1 L1 laboratory-reared to adult (D. Badano). Sardinia, Sassari (Sassari), Li Punti, VII.2010 (D. Badano), 1 L2 and 1 L3 laboratory-reared to adult. Sardinia, Alghero (Sassari), the base of arenaceous escarpment, VIII.2010 (D. Badano), 1 L3. Sardinia, Alghero (Sassari), Capocaccia, coastal juniper thicket, IX.2011 (D. Badano), 1 L3; same locality, IV.2011, 1 L3; same locality, V.2012, 4 L3 and 2 L3 laboratory-reared to adults. Sardinia Alghero (Sassari), Carabuffas, 3 L3 laboratory-reared from a female collected in the field (R. A. Pantaleoni).
Description of 3 rd instar larva. Size (based on 13 specimens): BL 8.06 mm; HL 1.93 mm (1.79–2.11), HW 1.72 mm (1.60–1.94), ML 1.67 mm (1.43–2.00), HW/HL 0.89, ML/HL 0.86. General colouring yellowish brown with a dark brown pattern, markings of the dorsal side regularly disposed creating three lines, ventral side very pale, yellowish or whitish; head capsule brown, darker than the body with dark markings on the sides, ventral side of the head very pale except a dark area at the base of the mandibles; antennae black; jaws dark brown; legs pale; setae of the body black. Head a little longer than wide; mandibles shorter than the head capsule and relatively robust (Fig. 11a); interdental mandibular setae: (~4)(1)(1)(0). Pronotum covered by 4 parallel rows of setae with only very small setae interspersed between them (Fig. 4F); mesothoracic spiracles conical, reddish brown (Fig. 11b). Abdominal spiracles slightly raised; IX abdominal sternite covered by long digging setae; rastra prominent, bearing 4 subequal digging setae of which the internal seta is the shortest (Figs. 3F, 11c).
Bio-ecology. M. appendiculatus is a very common species in south-western Europe, associated with arid grasslands and low scrublands. The larvae live in the soil in exposed conditions, among herbaceous plants and rocks; they also colonize rock crevices filled with fine substratum. Occasionally they are buried at the base of escarpments or isolated trees.
Distribution. Typical western Mediterranean faunal element, widely distributed in south-western Europe and North Africa.
Remarks. The larval stages of the other members of the genus Macronemurus, including the east Mediterranean vicariant species M. bilineatus Brauer, 1868, still need to be discovered. The larvae of M. appendiculatus closely resemble the yellowish species of Neuroleon, often sharing the same habitat, although they are easily distinguishable due to the proportionally stouter mandibles, the chaetotaxy of the pronotum and the digging setae of the IX sternite.
description: Published as part of Badano, Davide & Pantaleoni, Roberto Antonio, 2014, The larvae of European Myrmeleontidae (Neuroptera), pp. 1-71 in Zootaxa 3762 (1) on pages 22-24, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3762.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/4909357