Nemopteridae
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Photo] Spoonwings, Thread-winged Lacewings. Chasmatoptera sheppardi (left, Lertha sheppardi) from Asia Minor and Halter imperatrix (right, Nemopistha imperatrix) from W. Africa. Source Guide to the exhibited series of insects in the department of zoology. British Museum of Natural History. 1909 (Available on www.archive.org). Date 1909. Author British Museum of Natural History

Spoonwings or Nemopteridae are a family of neuropteran insects. They are also called Thread-winged Antlions. Their flight is delicate and they have a circling flight to avoid walls when they are trapped indoors. The long streamer is conspicuous when the insects are flying and these are the elongated and spatulate hindwings.

They are found in the Ethiopian, Palearctic, Australasian and Neotropical regions but absent in North America. (A fossil has been found in Colorado)

Male Nemopterids have a bulla on the wing usually along the margin or wing base that is used to disperse pheromone.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nemopteridae

The text in this page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article shown in above URL. It is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.