ENY 3005 Families of Mecoptera

Order Mecoptera Pronunciation: me-COP-ter-ra Common name: scorpionflies

Order Mecoptera -- scorpionflies

• Family Boreidae -- Snow scorpionflies.
15 species, mostly western. Feed on mosses. Adults appear in winter.
• Family Meropeidae -- Earwig scorpionflies.
A single rare species along the East Coast. Male has terminal appendages like earwigs.
• Family Panorpidae -- Common scorpionflies.
About 40 species in North America. Male genitalia appearing like stinger of a scorpion.
• Family Panorpodidae -- Short-faced scorpionflies.
5 species in the genus Brachypanorpa in North America. Larvae are scarabaeiform and presumably feed on roots.
• Family Bittacidae -- Hanging scorpionflies.
9 species, fairly common.

References:

• Pages 208-211 in D. J. Borror and R. E. White. 1970. A Field Guide to the Insects. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.
• Pages 482-488 in D. J. Borror, C. A. Triplehorn, and N. F. Johnson. 1989. An Introduction to the Study of Insects, 6th ed. Philadelphia: Saunders College Publishing. 875 p.
• Page 247 in R. G. Bland and H. E. Jaques. 1978. How to Know the Insects, 3rd ed. Dubuque, Iowa: Wm. C. Brown Co.  409 p.
• Page 489 in H. V. Daly, J. T. Doyen, and A. H. Purcell III. 1998. Introduction to Insect Biology and Diversity, 2nd ed. Oxford University Press. 680 p.

Links to other web sites

• World Checklist of Extant Mecoptera Species
• Mecoptera at Gordon's Insect World