Two new species and one new combination in the green lacewing genus Chrysoperla are presented, based principally on species-specific features of their substrate-borne, vibrational courtship songs. The three are North American taxa with broad geographical ranges. All were previously considered part of a single species, variously referred to as C. plorabunda (Fitch) (a Nearctic species) or C. carnea (Stephens) (a holarctic species that includes C. plorabunda). An analysis of morphological characters of the adult body surface, wings, and male and female reproductive anatomy failed to reveal any consistent differences among the species that could be used to identify them, even though some statistically significant differences in wing shape emerged from the study. The new species are C. adamsi and C. johnsoni, with broadly overlapping geographical ranges in western North America. The name C. plorabunda is redefined to include only those individuals with courtship songs corresponding to an eastern North American population. As now restricted, C. plorabunda nonetheless ranges from the east to west coasts of North America and south at least to the Mexican border.
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Henry et al. (1993) studied this question.