Ábrahám Levente (szerk.): Válogatott tanulmányok VII. - Natura Somogyiensis 22. (Kaposvár, 2012)

Ábrahám L.: "On the other hand, what is this Eastern aeschnoides?" Morton 1926 - an undescribed Palpares species from the Eastern Mediterranean (Neuroptera: Myrmeleontidae)

Ábrahám L: "On the other hand, what is this Eastern aeschnoides?'

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Palpares speciosus (Linnaeus, 1758) - the first described Palpares species

Myrmeleon maculatum De Geer, 1773 - De Geer 1773 (Odescr), Fabricius 1775 (Syn), Rambur 1842 (Syn) Myrmecoleon speciosus (Linnaeus, 1758) - Burmeister 1839 (Comb)

Palpares speciosus (Linnaeus, 1758) - Rambur 1842 (Comb)

In the 10th edition of the Systema Naturae, Linnaeus (1758) described the species Hemerobius speciosus Linnaeus, 1758, which was moved by Linnaeus (1767) into the genus Myrmeleon (as "Myrmeleon speciosus") later. Its description was only one line long, but he referred to the excellent figure of Rösel (1755) which was also published (Rösel et al. 1764-68) several times (Fig. 2).

It was reported the species from Africa and from the south of Europe ("Africa et Europa australi").

Even today, Rösel’s (1755) illustration contributes to the easy determination of the first described Palpares species. Rösel, being an excellent illustrator, depicted the animals so realistically that his beautiful drawings often became the base of the species description by Linnaeus (1758).

Although, the specimen of Palpares speciosus was originally deposited in the Linnaeus’s collections is uncertain (Fig. 3). In fact, the insect collection was rearranged and supplemented by the son of Linnaeus and Smith. Possible, the labels were moved

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Fig. 3: The specimen of Palpares speciosus (Linnaeus, 1758) with labels preserved in the collection of the Linnean Society of London, in lateral and ventral views, specimen number: 2352