ABSTRACT

The three orders of Neuropterida are together considered to be the basal, most plesiomorphic representatives of the Endopterygota (= Holometabola; insects with complete metamorphosis). Therefore, their mating systems are particularly interesting from a phylogenetic perspective, in that they could provide insight into the ancient past of insect behavioral evolution. However, sexual behavior is extremely diverse within the 21 families of Neuropterida, and not unlike that found in insects that are usually considered more ‘advanced’. This chapter describes what little is known of sexual attraction, courtship and mating in the orders Megaloptera, Raphidioptera and Neuroptera. Each neurop – terid mating system shows clear signs of having been molded by the same intense and conflicting pressures of mate attraction and intersexual and intrasexual competition that have been described for other animal and plant groups. In the most plesiomorphic taxa (Sialidae, Raphidioptera, Ithonoidea), female pheromones serve to attract multiple males; this attraction has produced synchronized swarming behavior and male scramble–competition polygyny in some species. Also plesiomorphic and nearly universal within the superorder is sperm transfer by means of a large spermatophore, which can represent a significant paternal investment. Probably as a consequence, prolonged copulation and mate–guarding have evolved wherever particularly large spermatophores are exchanged. Courtship is found in the majority of Neuropterida, and is usually mediated by sex pheromones deployed by males from an anatomically diverse array of androconia (scent glands).