Chrysopa, Leach, 1815

GARLAND, J. A. & KEVAN, D. K. MCE., 2007, Chrysopidae of Canada and Alaska (Insecta, Neuroptera): revised checklist, new and noteworthy records, and geo-referenced localities, Zootaxa 1486 (1), pp. 1-84 : 14

GENUS CHRYSOPA Leach, 1815

Chrysopa Leach, 1815: 138 . Type species: Hemerobius perla Linnaeus, 1758 , sensu Schneider, 1851, In: Tjeder 1952: 202–205; subsequent designation, i.e., previous selections rejected and perla L. designated type and placed on Official List of Specific Names in Zoology as Name No. 22 ( Hemming 1954); monotypy ( Tjeder 1966).

Chrysopa is represented by more than 50 described species, some with defined subspecies, in Asia, Europe, and North America ( Brooks and Barnard 1990). In the New World, the genus is restricted to North America ( Monserrat et al. 2001). Larvae are naked ( Monserrat et al. 2001). Adults are predaceous, and the larvae overwinter as diapausing third instars within cocoons ( Toschi 1965; Brooks and Barnard 1990; Penny et al. 2000). In North America, 10 species are recognised ( Penny et al. 2000): seven of these occur in Canada; two occur in Alaska. Chrysopa quadripunctata and C. slossonae adults have been reported to interbreed in captivity ( Albuquerque et al. 1997), and it is difficult to distinguish between them using preserved adults based solely upon the taxonomic characters outlined by Banks (1924; cf. Penny et al. 2000), which are highly subjective. It is possible, therefore, that C. slossonae specimens are included among those listed for C. quadripunctata from Canada.