Overview
This geographically restricted family is regarded as the most primitive group of Myrmeleontoidea.
Description
Most species are large (fore wing length 17-43 mm) and the 7 genera (New 1981) are divided into 2 groups on wing shape and the presence or absence of tibial spurs.
Myiodactylus
and
Osmylops
represent a possibly more primitive kind of broad-winged nymphid producing single stalked eggs which yield flattened discoidal arboreal larvae. The putatively more advanced forms are typified by
Nymphes
, have narrower wings, and generally look like myrmeleontids with thin antennae.
Nymphes
myrmeleonides
, the largest and one of the most common species in the family, lays eggs in characteristic U-shaped groups of 30-40 alternating in two directions so that some eggs are directly attached to the substrate by short stalks and others 'bridge' between these. The larvae are litter dwellers and become covered with debris entangled in the long, coiled, dorsal, filamentous hairs. All Recent nymphid larvae have a single tooth on the mandible. Fully grown larvae of
Nymphes
are said to pupate in a cocoon in sand or soil. Those of
Osmylops
do so in cocoons on vegetation or bark. The few species for which data are available seem to be univoltine.
Distribution
Most species occur in eastern Australia, but there is one western species of
Nymphes
(New 1981, 1986). They are found in open forest habitats and in damp situations. Six species are known from New Guinea.