Chrysoperla Mohave (Banks) Neuroptera: Chrysopidae: Two Familiar Species in an Unexpected Disguise

The vibrational courtship song of Chrysoperla mohave (Banks)from several widely separated sites in California is described andcompared to C. downesi (Smith) and to a C. mohave-like populationof the recently described species. C. johnsoni Henry, Wells,and Pupedis. Unexpectedly, C. mohave is shown to have a songvery much like that of C. downesi, in contrast to the very differentsong of mohave-like C. johnsoni. Yet the C. downesi and C. johnsoni versions of "C. mohave" are physically indistinguishable.Therefore, C. mohave is not a monophyletic taxon, but instead it isa color morph that has arisen independently at least twice in separate lineages of Chrysoperla. Both C. downesi and C. johnsoni are thus highly variable species, encompassing populations that rangefrom solid dark green or bright green with no markings to lightyellowish-green with tergal spottig and dark crossveins. It isargued that C. downesi should be taken from synonymy with C.carnea (Stephens) and recognized as a valid biological species orspecies complex, defined by a unique type of courtship song