Mining the Species Diversity of Lacewings: New Species of the Pleasing Lacewing Genus Rambur, 1838 (Neuroptera, Dilaridae) from the Oriental Region.

The species diversity of insects is extraordinarily rich, but still has been insufficiently explored or underestimated particularly for uncommon groups. The pleasing lacewings (Dilaridae) are a little known family of Neuroptera with distinct sexually dimorphic antennae. The species diversity of pleasing lacewings was recently found to be severely underestimated and requires a comprehensive investigation, as well as systematic reviews. Here, we report on 12 new species of the pleasing lacewing genus Rambur, 1838, from the Oriental region, namely sp. nov. and sp. nov. from Laos (new country record of ); sp. nov., sp. nov. and sp. nov. from northern Thailand; sp. nov. from northern Vietnam; sp. nov., sp. nov., sp. nov., sp. nov., sp. nov., and sp. nov. from Yunnan and Tibet, both in southwestern China. The new species of display several types of wing marking patterns, and the morphology of the male genitalia is highly diverse. A comprehensive examination of the species diversity and distribution of concluded that Yunnan (southwestern China) represents a biogeographic region with high endemism and the richest species diversity. The potential correlation between vertical distribution and geographical latitude in was also analyzed.