Chyrsoperla agilis

(formerly Cc3 Maltese)  The range of this lively species is similar to that of Chrysoperla mediterranea, i.e., mostly southern Europe, but also found on the Azores archipelago the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.  Until recently its eastern limit was thought to be Iran, near Tehran.  However, in the winter of 2007 irrefutable specimens of this song species were collected in Fairbanks, Alaska, thousands of kilometers from the closest known population!  It was originally nicknamed “Maltese” because first collections of this species came from the island of Malta.  Shown below are three SRUs, each consisting of a single long volley of abdominal vibration, which an insect typically produces repetitively.  In a duet, the partner would insert his or her SRU between the SRUs illustrated.  As in Cc2, spikes result from the abdomen striking the substrate.

A complete description of the species is given in Henry CS, Brooks SJ, Duelli P, Johnson JB. 2003. A lacewing with the wanderlust: the European song species ‘Maltese’,Chrysoperla agilis sp.n., of the carnea group of Chrysoperla (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae). Systematic Entomology 28: 131-48.