#nemopteridae

Photographed in Spain by faluke

Photo 1 by timinnica, 2 by erlandreflingnielsen, 3 by petergleick, 4 by fernandoromao, 5 by draposo79, 6 by simon_oliver, 7 by Agustín Povedano, 8 by simon_oliver, and 9-10 (larva) by simon_oliver

I vividly remember photographing this Chasmoptera huttii, on the north-facing slope on a sandhill in Hammond Park, because I had to crawl along on my belly, millimeter by millimeter, until I was in range to take the shot. And the sand was scorchingly hot, even through the overalls. I was in actual pain by the time I managed to get some photos that were in focus. 

Thread-winged Lacewings are in the same family as the Spoon-winged Lacewings - the Nemopteridae - but instead of have elaborate flattened blades on their hindwings, they have these slender filaments instead. I’m not sure what benefit they derive by evolving in this direction - perhaps female Austrocroce just decided that spoonwings were going out of fashion, and decided they preferred their mates more minimalist. Of course, that assumes that they didn’t start off like this and that Austrocroce is stubbornly retaining the traditional look.

rather extraordinary - Nemopterid larva in amber

Nemoptera bipennis by Helder Conceição on Flickr.