Gymnocnemia variegata (Schneider, 1845)

Khudhur, Farhad A. & Ábrahám, Levente, 2025, A report on the lacewing fauna of Iraqi Kurdistan (Neuroptera: Mantispidae, Nemopteridae, Myrmeleontidae, Ascalaphidae), Zootaxa 5665 (2), pp. 223-238 : 234

* Gymnocnemia variegata (Schneider, 1845)

( Fig. 6E )

Material examined: 1♂ IRAQ, Erbil, Koman, Gali Sakran , 36°35’29,6”N, 44°54’43.5”E, 30.VII.2023 leg: Farhad A. Khudhur ; 3♀ IRAQ, Sulaymaniyah, Qara Dagh , 4.3km NW Jafaran Village, 35°19’55.6”N, 45°17’44.3”E, 12.IX.2023 leg: Farhad A. Khudhur ; 1♀ 1- IRAQ, Sulaymaniyah, Dukan, Zewe Village Piramagroon Mt. , 35°45’39.9”N, 45°14’24.7”E, 20.IX.2023, leg: Farhad A. Khudhur & Aland Nwab .

Remarks: This species has an expansive distribution in holomediterranean faunal element. It is distributed from North Africa and the Mediterranean areas of Europe to Inner Asia ( Kyrgyzstan), and its southern limit extends through Iran and Pakistan. Throughout its range, this species appers to be generally sporadic, which may be related to its poor flight ability and poor representation in collections. We report G. variegata here as a new country record for Iraq.

A small, slender species, the legs of G. variegata are noticeably elongated. The wings are relatively broad, and the cubital and gradate markings in the forewing are pale. Tibial spurs are absent, and the tarsus is shorter than tibia. A similar species in the region is G. mirabilis (Hölzel, 1980) , which has the tarsus longer than the tibia in all legs and with minute tibial spurs ( Badano et al. 2017).

Figures

FIGURE 6. A—Habitus of Distoleon formosus, B—Hed an pronotum in dorsal view; C—Habitus of Nemoleon poecilopterus, D—Habitus of Creoleon griseus; E—Habitus of Gymnocnemia variegata, F—Head in frontal view, G—Head and pronotum in dorsal view, H—Habitus of Mansellasca fabiani Abbreviations: T3—Tegite 3, gv—gradate veins, (Scale bar: 10 mm)