Family PSYCHOPSIDAE
Compiler and date details
T.R. New La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia
Introduction
The silky lacewings, or Psychopsidae, are one of the most spectacular groups of Neuroptera, and occur also in South Africa and the Oriental region. Australian species were reviewed by New (1989), and a global synthesis of the family by Oswald (1993) has helped in clarifying the limits of particular genera. All Australian species are referred to the genus Psychopsis Newman, 1842.
The few larvae recorded in Australia have been found beneath the bark of eucalypts, and the life cycle may take two years.
General References
New, T.R. 1989. The Psychopsidae (Insecta: Neuroptera) of Australia and the Oriental Region. Invertebrate Taxonomy 2: 841-883 [publication dated 1988]
Oswald, J.D. 1993. Phylogeny, taxonomy, and biogeography of extant silky lacewings (Insecta: Neuroptera: Psychopsidae). Memoirs of the American Entomological Society 40: 1-65