Puncha ratzeburgi

Puncha ratzeburgi is a species of snakefly in the monotypic genus Puncha belonging to the family Raphidiidae.[3][4]

Puncha ratzeburgi
Puncha ratzeburgi, female
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Raphidioptera
Family: Raphidiidae
Genus: Puncha
Navàs, 1915
Species:
P. ratzeburgi
Binomial name
Puncha ratzeburgi
(Brauer, 1876)
Synonyms
  • Agulla ratzenburgi (Brauer, 1876)[1]
  • Raphidilla alpina (Steinmann, 1964) [2]
  • Rhaphidilla alpina Steinmann, 1964[2]
  • Raphidia ratzeburgi Brauer, 1876[1]

Distribution and habitat

This species is widely distributed in Central and Eastern Europe[5] (Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland).[6] Isolated populations have been found from southern France, the Apennine and Balkan Peninsula. These insects inhabit mountains at an elevation up to 1,100 metres (3,600 ft) above sea level.

Description

Puncha ratzeburgi can reach a wingspan of about 24 millimetres (0.94 in).[7] These snakeflies have a long prothorax, hyaline wings with characteristic venation, a distinct pterostigma ranging from yellow-ocher to ocher-brown, and a long ovipositor in females.[8]

Biology

They are predatory, both as adults and larvae.

  • Museum specimen
    Museum specimen

References
  1. Brauer, F. (1876) Die Neuropteren Europas und insbesondere Oesterreichs mit Rücksicht auf ihre geographische Verbreitung. Pp. [263]-300 in Festschrift zur Feier des fünfundzwanzigjährigen Bestehen Kaiserlich-Koniglichen Zoologisch-Botanischen Gesellschaft, Wien.
  2. Steinmann, H. (1964) Raphidiopterological studies II. New Raphidia L. and Raphidilla Nav. species from Europe and Asia., Acta Zoologica Hungarica 10:199-227.
  3. Biolib
  4. Catalogue of life
  5. H Aspöck - The Raphidioptera of the Apennines Peninsula
  6. Fauna europaea
  7. Aspöck, Aspöck & Hölzel (1980) Die Neuropteren Europas. Krefeld: Goecke & Evers
  8. Keys at Natura mediterraneo (in Italian)
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