Ciclo De Carbono

Introduction
Neuroptera, or lacewings, antlions ,and their allies, is one of the smaller orders of insects, with approximately 60000 described species, of which only about 4000 species areestimated to be valid taxa (Aspöck et al., 1980). They are found in all temperate and tropical parts of the world, but rarely constitute a major component of the insect fauna. Neuropterans probably reachtheir greatest diversity in tropical forest communities, but seldom are very abundant there, and often are very difficult to encounter. They probably attain their greatest abundance (but not diversity)in desert communities and in a variety of temperate habitats, such as forests, grasslands, and urban backyards. On warm, early fall evenings in north temperate towns and cities, storefront and homewindows are often covered with hundreds of adult lacewings attracted to the lights.
Neuroptera have two distinctive characteristics that make them fascinating creatures. First, they are predators,especially as larvae, giving them the distinction of helping protect us from a wide variety of agricultural and horticultural pests (Tauberet al., 2000)as well as disease carriers. Secondly, they havedeveloped broad, membranous wings for flight, which are strengthened by an elaborate network of crossveins, and hence the name lacewings. A few of the larger, diurnal species of Myrmeleontidae,Nemopteridae, and Ascalaphidae can be quite colorful, and at a distance can be mistaken with large butterflies.
SYSTEMATICS AND DIVERSITY
Documenting biodiversity for insects is a difficult task. Insects areaften small and elusive , and pass many months of the year in immature and resting stages. Even when abundant, they are often cryptically colored to avoid being eaten by visually predators, likebirds and lizards .Thus, few comparative statements have been made about the diversity of insect groups, such as butterflies (DeVries, 1986) and fulgorid bugs(Porion, 19994), however, the tropical parts...