psychopsid

English

A fossil psychopsid, Undulopsychopsis alexi

Noun

psychopsid (plural psychopsids)

1. (zoology) Any insect of the silky lacewing family, Psychopsidae.
   • 1976, Bernhard Grzimek, Grzimek's Encyclopedia of Evolution, page 265:

     Some of the Australian specimens are classified with the psychopsids (family Psychopsidae), an alder fly group occurring solely in Australia, where it is known as the silky lace-wing due to the brilliantly colored wings and the long, silky hair.

   • 2005, David Grimaldi, Evolution of the Insects, page 342:

     As will be repeatedly seen in many Neuroptera families, psychopsids had a wider distribution during the Mesozoic and Tertiary.

   • 2011, Yuanyuan Peng, Vladimir N. Makarkin, Xiaodong Wang, Dong Ren, “A new fossil silky lacewing genus (Neuroptera, Psychopsidae) from the Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation of China”, in Dmitry Shcherbakov, editor, Advances in the Systematics of Fossil and Modern Insects, page 218:

     While many fossil psychopsids were recorded from the Mesozoic, few representatives have been described from the Tertiary.

Synonyms

• (any species of Psychopsidae): silky lacewing