Kingdom Animalia Suborder Hemerobiiformia Scientific name Berothidae Rank Family | Class Insecta Superfamily Mantispoidea Phylum Arthropoda Order Neuroptera | |
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Similar Neuroptera, Dilaridae, Ithonidae, Coniopterygidae, Sisyridae | ||
The Berothidae are a family of winged insects of the order Neuroptera. They are known commonly as the beaded lacewings. The family was first named by Anton Handlirsch in 1906.
Berothidae is very closely related to the thorny lacewings which are often included in the Berothidae as subfamily "Rhachiberothinae". They are also occasionally considered to be the distinct family Rhachiberothidae or included as a subfamily in the mantidflies. The family consists of 22 genera and 100 living species distributed discontinuously worldwide, mostly in tropical and subtropical regions. Eleven extinct genera with a total of 13 species have been described from the fossil record.
The larvae are associated with termites.
Systematics
The peculiar genus Lomamyia cannot be robustly assigned to any one subfamily. In addition, a considerable fossil diversity of beaded lacewings is known from the Late Jurassic onwards, containing numerous genera which are likewise basal or incertae sedis:
