Rapisma

Rapisma
Rapisma tamilanum from the Western Ghats
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Neuroptera
Family: Ithonidae
Genus: Rapisma
McLachlan, 1866
Species

Rapisma is a genus of moth lacewings, Ithonidae. They were previously placed in family of their own, Rapismatidae. They are mostly brown or green and the body is broad and the head is short and retracted under the pronotum. Some species show sexual dimorphism in wing shape. Species identification is based on genitalia characters and requires the dissection of specimens. The genus has species that are distributed along the Himalayas from Nepal to Thailand, Malaysia and South East Asia. One species, R. tamilanum, has a slightly more disjunct distribution and occurs in the Western Ghats of southern India.[1][2]

The larva has not been described but may be subterranean or found in leaf litter.[2]

  1. ^ New, T.R. (2003). The Neuroptera of Malesia. Fauna Malesiana. Volume 4. Leiden: Brill. pp. 37–38.
  2. ^ a b Barnard, P.C. (1981). "The Rapismatidae (Neuroptera): montane lacewings of the oriental region". Systematic Entomology. 6 (2): 121–136. Bibcode:1981SysEn...6..121B. doi:10.1111/j.1365-3113.1981.tb00430.x.