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| Banyaleon Zheng & Liu nom. n., Ancyroleon Zheng & Liu gen. n., Baligaptes Zheng & Liu gen. n. Melanobaliga Zheng & Liu gen. n., Orientaleon Zheng & Liu gen. n., Sinobaliga Zheng & Liu gen. n., ... in Zheng, Badano, Machado, Tu, U. Aspöck, H. Aspöck, Nel, Winterton et Liu, 2026. |
Abstract
Myrmeleontini is a widespread antlion tribe within the lacewing family Myrmeleontidae, well known for its larvae building cone-shaped pits in sandy soil to trap prey. The monophyly of the tribe is well supported, but the monophyly of many genera within the tribe as well as the definition of the genus Myrmeleon Linnaeus has long been questioned. Here, we present a phylogenomic analysis of Myrmeleontini with emphasis on the Eurasian fauna, using ultraconserved elements (UCE) data. Our results recovered Myrmeleon as a diverse grade, with Baliga Navás, Callistoleon Banks, Euroleon Esben-Petersen, Hagenomyia Banks and Megistoleon Navás deeply nested within it. Based on our sampling of type species of many genera (including those synonymized with Myrmeleon) and detailed morphological comparisons, we provide a new phylogeny-based classification of Myrmeleontini. Accordingly, Myrmeleon s. str. only refers to the formerly recognized M. formicarius group from Palaearctic region. The status of 12 genera that were previously considered as junior synonyms of Myrmeleon is restored (i.e., Banyaleon Zheng & Liu nom. n., Bordus Navás stat. rev., Callistoleon Banks stat. rev., Cocius Navás stat. rev., Enza Navás stat. rev., Macroleon Banks stat. rev., Moreyus Navás stat. rev., Morter Navás stat. rev., Neleon Navás stat. rev., Neseurus Navás stat. rev., Myrmeleodes Navás stat. rev. and Tafanerus Navás stat rev.), while Neohornius stat. rev., previously treated as a subgenus of Myrmeleon, is herein elevated to genus. Additionally, based on comprehensive sampling from the Oriental region, five new genera from this region are described, that is, Ancyroleon Zheng & Liu gen. n., Baligaptes Zheng & Liu gen. n. Melanobaliga Zheng & Liu gen. n., Orientaleon Zheng & Liu gen. n. and Sinobaliga Zheng & Liu gen. n.
Keywords: biogeography, classification, lacewing, phylogeny, systematics
Banyaleon Zheng & Liu nom. n.,
Bordus Navás stat. rev.,
Callistoleon Banks stat. rev.,
Cocius Navás stat. rev.,
Enza Navás stat. rev.,
Macroleon Banks stat. rev.,
Moreyus Navás stat. rev.,
Morter Navás stat. rev.,
Neleon Navás stat. rev.,
Neseurus Navás stat. rev.,
Myrmeleodes Navás stat. rev.
Tafanerus Navás stat rev.
Neohornius stat. rev.
five new genera:
Ancyroleon Zheng & Liu gen. n.,
Baligaptes Zheng & Liu gen. n.
Melanobaliga Zheng & Liu gen. n.,
Orientaleon Zheng & Liu gen. n.
Sinobaliga Zheng & Liu gen. n.
Yuchen Zheng, Davide Badano, Renato Jose Pires Machado, Yuezheng Tu, Ulrike Aspöck, Horst Aspöck, André Nel, Shaun W. Winterton and Xingyue Liu. 2026. UCE Phylogenomics improves the Classification of the cosmopolitan Pit-building Antlion tribe Myrmeleontini (Neuroptera: Myrmeleontidae: Myrmeleontinae). Systematic Entomology. DOI: doi.org/10.1111/syen.70040 [27 March 2026]
