The researchers measured the heads of more than 1,000 larvae, including all the nearly 300 fossilized neuroptera larvae that are known worldwide and 800 specimens that are still alive today. In this way, they were able to confirm that the diversity of neuroptera larvae has indeed declined in the last 100 million years.

 

“Although our glance into the past is limited to a small sample size and very specific regions around the globe, we can nevertheless detect greater morphological diversity among neuroptera larvae in the Cretaceous period,” Carolin Haug says. “So, it is probable that actual diversity was in fact substantially greater in the past.” However, the overall picture of neuroptera history is complex: Whereas their diversity as a whole has definitely decreased, some neuroptera lines have diversified and thus gained in importance.