Search

With his work, De animalibus insectis (1602), Ulisse Aldrovandi occupies a prominent place in the history of entomology. Of particular interest in this volume are the many original descriptions and woodcuts of insects. Partly due to the 'Tavole di animali' [Tables of animals] − illustrations drawn and watercoloured by hand, made by the author previously for the realization of the woodcuts for the printed book − some of them can be identified at genus or species level. For a large number of insects, Aldrovandi's descriptions and illustrations are the oldest in the entomological literature. Three adult antlions and one adult green lacewing are recognizable in the book and have already been studied; hypothetical larvae of green lacewings can be added and are recorded here. Among the butterflies and moths, there is another rather enigmatic insect, which could be an owlfly (ascalaphid), though there is some uncertainty due to discrepancies between its colouring in the 'Tavole di animali' and its description in the book. This paper deals with the possible identification of this insect as an ascalaphid and outlines the origin and meaning of the term 'ascalaph'.

Cases of morphological abnormalities concerning Neuropterida have been published only rarely. If we neglect the deformities observable less rarely in the wings of the three orders of these insects (Megaloptera, Raphidioptera, Neuroptera), which result from defective adult emergence, or certain modest and recurrent anomalies in wing venation, it seems that these abnormalities are more rare than in other insects, such as Coleoptera, for which particularly striking teratological cases have been reported. The present contribution summarizes records of morphological anomalies in the literature concerning Neuropterida and illustrates three unpublished cases observed by the author in Neuroptera (Myrmeleontidae and Chrysopidae); of special interest is a case of unilateral antennal aplasia.

The pattern of egg deposition, the morphology of the eggs and particularly the fine structure of the chorion surface examined by means of the scanning electron microscope (SEM) can provide useful elements for discriminating subfamilies, genera and species in green lacewings (Neuroptera, Chrysopidae). Observations are now available in the world literature on the fine structure of the exochorion for various genera and at least a dozen green lacewing species. The present work deals principally with the surface structures (exochorion surface, micropylar area) of the egg – examined by means of SEM – of some species belonging to the genus Pseudomallada Tsukaguchi, 1995 (Chrysopinae), which in Europe includes about two dozen taxa of specific or subspecific rank, some of which are difficult to discriminate and problematic as regards their systematic level. The species considered are: P. prasinus (Burmeister, 1839), P. inornatus (Navás, 1901), P. clathratus (Schneider, 1845), and P. cf. picteti (McLachlan, 1880). To date, the observations available in the literature on the egg features in these species are quite limited or absent. The pattern of the exochorion sculpturing provides more or less evident discriminating features between at least some of the species examined. It seems to be more difficult to find easily recognizable differences between species in the structure of the micropylar area. Other differences are to be found in the length of the egg and its stalk and in the shape of the egg itself, which can nevertheless change a little in relation to embryonic development.