The verdict on the antlion that we found by the Esteiro da Carrasqueira at Castro Marim on 4th June is that it was
Palperes hispanus. This is a member of the Family
Myrmeleonidae which in turn belongs to the Order
Neuroptera . And the good news is that Nelson Fonseca managed to find and photograph at least one more specimen when he visited the site this last weekend.
Palperes hispanus
We’re told that it is more than 100 years since this species was last recorded in Portugal and that there has been no previous record in the Algarve! Of course, that may well be because there are very few people here who are remotely interested in antlions and even fewer who are capable of identifying them! Still, it’s quite exciting.
We were at Lagoa dos Salgados at the weekend and managed to photograph another rather impressive insect that is a relative of
P. hispanus. This one is a spoonwing or thread-winged antlion,
Nemophora bipennis, a member of the Family
Nemopteridae, which also belongs to the Order
Neuroptera. This is quite a common species here but fun to see, nevertheless.
Nemophora bipennis
2 comments:
Interesting and really good news about the antlion at Castro Marim!
I spotted several spoonwing antlions from the boardwalk at Lagoa dos Salgados a couple of years ago, I hadn't a clue what they were until I researched back home in the UK. They are delightful to watch and difficult to photograph amongst the vegetation.
I enjoy reading your posts, keep up the good work!
We can't promise lots more insects but we do try to take a wider interest than just birds.
Glad you enjoy the blog.
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