1976] 
Henry — Larval Owlflies 
25 
Australian and African forms in my possession* display the more 
widespread and plesiomorphic pattern of head and mouthpart 
morphology characteristic of Ascaloptynx. Several additional 
specializations of Ululodes seem to be unique to the genus (or to 
its tribe, Ululodini, confined to the New World): for example, 
ventral scoli, entirely lacking in Ululodes, are retained on the meso- 
and metathoraces of all known ascalaphine types and on a number 
of anterior abdominal segments in Ascalaphus, Helicomitus 
(Ghosh, 1913), and several distinct but unidentified species from 
South Africa and Australia. Other features that are more extreme 
in Ululodes than in other Ascalaphinae include the length of the 
anteriormost body scoli, the prominence of the antenna and its 
tubercle, the degree of reduction in the size of the prothoracic 
tubercles, and the length of lateral head and body setae. On the 
other hand, Ululodes shares with all other known Ascalaphinae 
such plesiomorphic traits as cylindroid body scoli and relatively 
unflattened head capsule; prominent, cylindrical ocular tubercles 
of the Ululodes type are also characteristic of most ascalaphines, 
but Pseudoptynx (Gravely and Maulik, 1911) is exceptional in 
possessing a somewhat flattened, nearly sessile ocular area. Finally, 
the positioning of abdominal spiracles presents an ambiguous 
picture in the subfamily. Spiracles are placed ventrally in Ululodes 
and in the extinct genus Neadelphus. However, a tendency can 
be noted in Ascalaphus (figure 10) that becomes more pronounced 
in several Australian and African forms toward lateral or even 
dorsal placement of the first pair of abdominal spiracles; in extreme 
cases, the second pair may also be involved in this dorsal migration, 
although never to the same extent as the first. 
Comparison of the Ascaloptynx larva with two unidentified 
Central American neuroptyngines in my possession** suggests that 
extreme dorso-ventral flattening of the head and scoli may be a 
universal specialization within the New World Neuroptynginae 
that is perhaps least developed in Ascaloptynx. In conjunction 
with this flattening, all three types bear “dorsal” and “ventral” series 
of scoli together in a common plane; the number of scoli in each 
series is also constant within the group, insofar as our limited 
sample permits us to generalize. Other specializations shared by 
* All Australian owlflies are ascalaphines. 
**A description of these forms is in preparation. 
