Species Of Scorpionflies Research Articles

Death Feigning in Larvae of Scorpionflies (Mecoptera: Panorpidae): Frequency and Postural Changes Based on Larval Instars

AbstractDeath feigning is thought to have evolved primarily as a predator avoidance behavior, and has been reported in 10 of the 31 orders of insects. However, there have been no reports of death-feigning behavior in Mecoptera species. We found that larvae of two scorpionfly species, Panorpa japonica and P. pryeri, showed death feigning in response to external stimuli by brush poking stimulation. First, we examined the frequencies of death-feigning postures. The two species showed two different postures of death feigning, “straight” and “ball.” Most of the 1st instar larvae of P. japonica and P. pryeri adopted the straight death-feigning posture. Next, we examined duration of death feigning. As the larval instar progressed, the death-feigning posture shifted from straight to ball in both Panorpa species. In P. japonica, the longest durations of death feigning were found in the 2nd to 3rd instars, while the longest duration of death feigning was found in the late 4th instar in P. pryeri larvae.

Present knowledge on Mecoptera of Ukraine.

The first annotated checklist of Mecoptera of Ukraine is presented. Altogether, 11 species of scorpionflies are known with a confirmed or probable occurrence in Ukraine. This list is based on previously published data, as well as on recently collected materials and specimens housed in the collection of the State Museum of Natural History NAS Ukraine, Lviv. This collection belongs to the oldest one in Ukraine and comprises specimens collected by Jzef Dzidzielewicz, the founder of mecopteran investigations in Eastern Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries. For each listed species, its distribution in Ukraine is given together with notes on the history of investigations, and synonymies of the respective taxa. Detailed information on the distribution of selected species from the Red Book of Ukraine is presented.

Wing-waving behaviors are used for conspecific display in the Japanese scorpionfly, Panorpa japonica

Species of scorpionfly (Mecoptera) in the family Panorpidae perform wing-waving behaviors, whereby they rotate their front and rear wings at the same time. Previous studies have suggested that a male, which carries food for use as nuptial gifts for females, performs the wing-waving behavior when the male gives the gift to a female or competes with other males. However, when and how the wing-waving behavior occurs during a series of nuptial giftings and male–male competitions have not been investigated. Therefore, we here observed the role of wing-waving behavior during the processes of giving nuptial gifts and male–male competition in the Japanese scorpionfly Panorpa japonica in the laboratory and field. Unlike previous studies, only males performed wing-waving behavior toward females, while females did not exhibit the behavior in the wild. Also, males always performed wing-waving behavior before male–male competition. After a male–male competition, winner males continued wing-waving behavior, but loser males never performed the behavior against the winner male. A comparison of wing-waving behaviors before competitions between winner and loser males showed that the frequencies of wing-waving behaviors were higher in winner than in loser males. The present results suggest that the wing-waving behavior functions in the inter-sexual and intra-sexual selection in P. japonica. Digital video images related to the article are available at http://www.momo-p.com/showdetail-e.php?movieid=momo210513pj01a and http://www.momo-p.com/showdetail-e.php?movieid=momo210513pj02a and http://www.momo-p.com/showdetail-e.php?movieid=momo210513pj03a.

Traumatic mating increases anchorage of mating male and reduces female remating duration and fecundity in a scorpionfly species.

Traumatic mating is the male wounding his mate during mating using specialized anatomy. However, why males have evolved to injure their mates during mating remains poorly understood. We studied traumatic mating in Dicerapanorpa magna to determine its effects on male and female fitness. The sharp teeth on male gonostyli penetrate the female genitalia and cause copulatory wounds, and the number of scars on the female genitals is positively related to the number of times females mated. When the injurious teeth were encased with low-temperature wax, preventing their penetration of the female's genitalia during mating, male mating success and copulation duration were reduced significantly, indicating the importance of the teeth in allowing the male to secure copulation, remain in copula and effectively inseminate his mate. The remating experiments showed that traumatic mating had little effect on the female mating refractory period, but significantly reduced female remating duration with subsequent males, probably benefiting the first-mating male with longer copulation duration and transferring more sperm into the female's spermatheca. The copulatory wounds reduced female fecundity, but did not accelerate the timing of egg deposition. This is probably the first report that traumatic mating reduces female remating duration through successive remating experiments in animals. Overall, our results provide evidence that traumatic mating in the scorpionfly helps increase the male's anchoring control during mating and provides him advantage in sperm competition, but at the expense of lowering female fecundity.

Jurassic scorpionflies (Mecoptera) with swollen first metatarsal segments suggesting sexual dimorphism

BackgroundSexual dimorphism is widespread in insects. The certain specialized structures may be used as weapons in male–male combats or as ornaments to enhance mating opportunities.ResultsWe report striking swollen first tarsal segments in two families, four genera and six species of scorpionflies from the Middle Jurassic Yanliao Biota of Northeastern China. Swollen tarsal segments are restricted to male specimens and to hind leg tarsi. The geometric morphometric analyses reveal that the degree of swelling within the orthophlebiid species possessing swollen first metatarsal segments is species-specific, which can be used as a diagnostic character for taxonomic and phylogenetic studies.ConclusionsThe new findings indicate that swollen first metatarsal segments are relatively common in the family Orthophlebiidae during the Middle Jurassic. The tarsal swellings are considered to be sexually dimorphic, potentially associated with sexually display by males and/or camouflage of a “nuptial gift” in the mating process.

Комахи надряду Mecopteroidea Ківерцівського національного природного парку «Цуманська пуща»: попередні дослідження

У роботі розглянуто підсумки першого вивчення лускокрилих, волохокрильців, скорпіонових мух, двокрилих в межах Ківерцівського національного природного парку «Цуманська пуща». Рослинні комплекси парку представлені пралісами дубових та сосново-дубових лісів, які утворюють своєрідний комплекс із болотами різних типів, ділянками лук вздовж водотоків, чорновільшняками Збір матеріалу проводили у 2017 – 2019 рр. методами маршрутних зборів з використанням загальноприйнятих методик. Обстежено заплавні луки р. Конопельки поблизу с. Сокиричі, с. Муравище, с. Пальче; луки та ліс поблизу смт. Цумань, в урочищі Папики поблизу с. Дерно; ліс поблизу с. Дачне, м. Ківерці; річки Путилівку (с. Ставок, смт. Цумань), Кормин (поблизу с. Берестяне), Рудку (неподалік с. Журавичі), Грушвицю (поблизу с. Омельне), меліоративні канали (с. Дерно, смт. Цумань) у Ківерцівському районі Волинської області.У Ківерцівському національному природному парку «Цуманська пуща» зареєстровано 78 види мекоптероїдних комах з рядів Lepidoptera, Trichoptera, Mecoptera, Diptera. Ряд Лускокрилі (Lepidoptera) представлений 8 родинами (Adelidae, Hesperiidae, Pieridae, Lycaenidae, Nymphalidae, Geometridae, Noctuidae, Erebidae) з 36 видами, у ряді Волохокрильці (Trichoptera) відзначено лише одну родину (Limnephilidae) з 2 видами, з ряду Скорпіонові мухи (Mecoptera) зареєстровано лише одну родину (Panorpidae) є одним представником, ряд Двокрилі (Diptera) представлений 10 родинами (Simuliidae, Tipulidae, Asilidae, Bombyliidae, Dolichopodidae, Sarcophagidae, Tachinidae, Syrphidae, Stratiomyidae, Tabanidae) з 38 видами. Вперше для території парку відзначено 36 видів лускокрилих, 2 види волохокрильців, 1 вид скорпіонових мух та 25 видів двокрилих. Враховуючи календарні та територіальні обмеження розпочатої роботи, проведення подальших і спеціалізованих досліджень може суттєво доповнити фауністичний перелік мекоптероїдних комах національного парку та дасть змогу оцінити чисельність видів та встановити статус їхнього перебування.

Scorpionflies (Mecoptera: Panorpidae) collected during Project Tiger with the description of three new species from Thailand

Project Tiger was a collaborative effort to study entomological diversity in Thailand in 2007 through 2009 that involved the University of Kentucky, Thai field researchers, and world taxonomic specialists. Three new species of scorpionflies (Mecoptera: Panorpidae) are described from material acquired during Project Tiger and during subsequent collecting by the author. These are: Neopanorpa normpennyin. sp., a remarkable species with a greatly elongated process on the male 3rd tergum extending caudally nearly to the genital bulb, Neopanorpa arcuatan. sp., a scorpionfly with unique arched male hypovalves, and the first species of Panorpa from Thailand, Panorpa auripennisn. sp., with unusual golden yellow wings. Collection data for Mecoptera taken by Project Tiger are presented. Efforts by Project Tiger and follow up collecting bring the number of species of Mecoptera occurring in Thailand to 17, including 15 species of Neopanorpa Weele, 1909, one Panorpa Linnaeus, 1758, and one Bittacus Latreille, 1805, and the number of Mecoptera species known from Indochina to 51, including 44 Neopanorpa, two Panorpa, four Bittacus, and one Bicaubittacus Tan & Hua, 2009.

A New Species of Scorpionfly from the Bluegrass Region of Kentucky (Mecoptera: Panorpidae)

A new species of scorpionfly, similar to Panorpa helena and Panorpa insolens, but lacking 2–4 long, stout, black setae on the male basistyles apices and possessing long barbs on the apices of the male ventral parameres, is described from the Bluegrass Region of Kentucky.

Jumping and take-off in a winged scorpion fly (Mecoptera, Panorpa communis).

High-speed videos were used to analyse whether and how adults of a winged species of scorpion fly (Mecoptera, Panorpa communis) jump and determine whether they use the same mechanism as that of the only other mecopteran known to jump, the wingless snow flea, Boreus hyemalis Adult females are longer and heavier than males and have longer legs, but of the same relative proportions. The middle legs are 20% longer and the hind legs 60% longer than the front legs. A jump starts with the middle and hind legs in variable positions, but together, by depressing their coxo-trochanteral and extending their femoro-tibial joints, they accelerate the body in 16-19 ms to mean take-off velocities of 0.7-0.8 m s-1; performances in males and females were not significantly different. Depression of the wings accompanies these leg movements, but clipping them does not affect jump performance. Smooth transition to flapping flight occurs once airborne with little loss of energy to body rotation. Ninety percent of the jumps analysed occurred without an observable stimulus; the remaining 10% were in response to a mechanical touch. The performance of these jumps was not significantly different. In its fastest jumps, a scorpion fly experiences an acceleration of 10g , expends 23 µJ of energy and requires a power output less than 250 W kg-1 of muscle that can be met by direct muscle contractions without invoking an indirect power amplification mechanism. The jumping mechanism is like that of snow fleas.

Five new species of Dicerapanorpa Zhong & Hua (Mecoptera, Panorpidae) from Yunnan, China

Abstract Five new scorpionfly species of the genus Dicerapanorpa Zhong and Hua, 2013 are described and illustrated from Yunnan Province, China. Dicerapanorpa macula sp. n. can be readily recognized by all branches of paramere parallel, basal and mesal branches extending well beyond basal process of gonostylus in male, and posterior arm of medigynium short and stout in female. Dicerapanorpa deqenensis sp. n. is characterized by basal branch of paramere as long as lateral branch and ventral valve of aedeagus nearly reaching apex of gonocoxite in male, and medigynium with paired auricular lateral processes in female. Dicerapanorpa tanae sp. n. is unique by genital bulb broad and spherical, basal branch of paramere short, and lateral branches curved convergently and parallel apically in male, and main plate of medigynium rounded in female. Dicerapanorpa tenuis sp. n. is distinguishable by hypovalve with largely expanded and inward curved apex and all branches of paramere reaching or exceeding apex of gonocoxite in male, and medigynium slender in female. Dicerapanorpa zhongdianensis sp. n. is characterized by basal branches of paramere parallel and mesal branches curved convergently in male, and main plate of medigynium subtriangular with a pair of auricular lateral processes in female. The species number of Dicerapanorpa is increased to thirteen. LSID: www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:A4490511-C475-4C5B-9E89-4BF4EBAA2137

New Species of Neopanorpa (Mecoptera) from Vietnam, with a Key to the Species of Mecoptera of Vietnam

Abstract. Sixteen species of scorpionflies have been reported from Vietnam, consisting of 13 Neopanorpa and three Bittacus species. One of these scorpionflies from the Central Highlands of Vietnam with hood-shaped hypovalves was determined to be a new species and is described herein as Neopanorpa cucullata, n.sp. A second new species, Neopanorpa ellengreeni, n. sp., with golden yellow wing membranes and Y-shaped wing markings is described from northern Vietnam. COI DNA analysis of 16 of 17 species of Vietnamese Mecoptera are presented using a neighbor-joining tree indicating that the new species are approximately as distinct from the extant species as the extant species are from each other. A key is provided for all 17 Vietnamese Mecoptera.

Two new species of the genus Panorpa Linnaeus (Mecoptera, Panorpidae) from Yunnan, China.

Two new scorpionfly species, Panorpa reflexa sp. n. and Panorpa parallela sp. n., are described and illustrated from Yunnan Province, China. Panorpa reflexa can be readily differentiated from its congeners by the 3-shaped parameres in male genitalia. Panorpa parallela is unique for its parallel parameres in male genitalia. The number of Panorpa species is raised to four in Yunnan Province, and to 113 throughout China.

The Scorpionflies (Mecoptera) of Indochina with the Description of New Species of Bittacus and Neopanorpa

Abstract. Forty species of scorpionflies are currently known from Indochina, consisting of 36 Neopanorpa, three Bittacus, and one Bicaubittacus. I describe and illustrate five additional new species from northern and central Vietnam: Neopanorpa angustala n. sp., N. lindsleyi n. sp., N. acetabulifera n. sp., Bittacus tamdaoensis n. sp., and B. bartolozzii n. sp., and discuss their habitats. I provide additional distribution and seasonal data for Indochinese Mecoptera. Moreover, I document the first records of Mecoptera from Cambodia.

A nearly cryptic Scorpionfly, Panorpa cryptica n. sp. (Mecoptera: Panorpidae) from North America.

The first nearly cryptic species of scorpionfly from the United States, Panorpa cryptica Bicha and Schiff, n. sp., is described from northern Georgia, southwestern North Carolina and northwestern South Carolina. This insect was initially differentiated from the very similar Panorpa nebulosa Westwood by its unique cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) mitochondrial DNA. Habitat details, distribution, and biology are described.

Diversity of wing patterns and abdomen-generated substrate sounds in 3 European scorpionfly species.

In the genus Panorpa (Insecta: Mecoptera), also known as scorpionflies, premating behavior includes repeated sequences of slow wing movements (waving, fanning, flagging) which are accompanied by rapid abdomen vibrations that generate substantial substrate-borne sound. It is still unknown whether wing patterns or vibratory signals contain information about species identity, sex and/or the quality of potential mating partners. Besides species-specific pheromones, these multimodal signals may be of particular importance for the maintenance of reproductive isolation in sympatrically occurring scorpionfly species. Here, we analyzed phyologenetic relationships among, and the pattern of forewings as well as substrate-borne sound in 3 different sympatric Central-European scorpionfly species (P. communis, P. germanica, and P. alpina). Divergence time estimates, based on 879 bp of the mitochondrial COI gene, indicate longstanding separate evolutionary histories for the studied Panorpa species. Morphological analysis revealed that wing length as an indicator of body size increased in the following order: P. alpina < P. germanica < P. communis. Individuals can be assigned to the correct species and sex with high accuracy just by evaluation of the number of dark spots and the proportion of wing pigmentation. Despite high variability of interpulse period at an individual level, across species analysis revealed a positive correlation of average interpulse period as well as mean signal amplitude with forewing length. These results suggest wing patterns, but less likely vibratory signals, to contain information about species identity. Furthermore, receivers may be able to estimate the body size of a signaler solely on the basis of substrate-borne sound.

Florida Scorpionfly, Panorpa floridana Byers (Insecta: Mecoptera: Panorpidae)

Have you seen this insect? No living individuals of Panorpa floridana have ever been observed. Knowledge of this species of scorpionfly is limited to five specimens from Alachua and Clay counties in northern peninsular Florida, the last one collected in 1982. This 4-page fact sheet was written by Louis A. Somma and James C. Dunford, and published by the UF Department of Entomology and Nematology, September 2012. EENY-538/IN949: Florida Scorpionfly, Panorpa floridana Byers (Insecta: Mecoptera: Panorpidae) (ufl.edu)

A new genus and species of scorpionfly (Mecoptera) from Baltic amber, with an unusually developed postnotal organ

A new genus and species of fossil scorpionflies (Mecoptera) Baltipanorpa damzenigen. et sp.n. is described from two well‐preserved male specimens in Baltic amber (middle Eocene: Lutetian). The most characteristic feature of the new taxon is an unusually developed postnotal organ on abdominal tergum IV. This is the most extremely developed example of this organ among Mecoptera and the only observation of notal and postnotal organs among fossil scorpionflies. The following combination of characters are provided to distinguish the new genus from other Panorpidae: Sc, short; R1 and R2 two‐branched; A1 joins posterior margin of wing only at same level as fork of vein Rs; unusual shape of abdomen, abdominal segments I–IV strongly reduced, abdominal segment V elongate and widened, segments VII and VIII strongly elongate; notal and postnotal organs present, strongly developed process (postnotal organ) on tergum IV, unknown in all described extant and fossil scorpionflies. Different types of notal organs of Mecoptera are compared and their function and morphology are discussed. Morphological analysis of notal and postnotal organs in extant species permits us to conclude that B. damzenisp.n. is characterized by the most developed and complex notal organs in all Mecoptera.

Mitochondrial genome sequences of representatives of three families of scorpionflies (Order Mecoptera) and evolution in a major duplication of coding sequence

The complete mitochondrial DNA sequences of a hangingfly, Bittacus pilicornis (Mecoptera: Bittacidae), a snow scorpion fly, Boreus elegans (Mecoptera: Boreidae), and a nearly complete sequence from another scorpionfly species, Microchorista philpotti (Mecoptera: Nannochoristidae) were determined. The coding sequence of all three genomes includes the 37 genes normally found in insect mtDNAs, in the same gene order as first described in Drosophila. In addition to the standard set of genes, the Microchorista sequence includes a large duplication of the coding region. The duplication is at least 4kb (and may be much larger) and includes the remnants of three protein-coding genes and seven tRNA genes. The duplication evidently arose as a single event, and the duplicated region can be aligned in its entirety with the corresponding region of the functional genome. Although most of the genes contain defects that render them nonfunctional, analysis shows that the protein-coding genes in the duplicated region evolved for a considerable period under constraints expected of functional protein-coding genes. It is evident, therefore, that for a period two copies of some of the mitochondrial genes were functional in this species, including genes coding for proteins.

A review of the scorpionflies (Mecoptera) of Indochina with the description of a new species of Neopanorpa from Northern Thailand

Thirty-nine species of scorpionflies are currently known from Indochina, consisting of 34 Neopanorpa, 1 Panorpa, and one, and 1 Bicaubittacus. An additional new species from northern Thailand, Neopanorpa latiseparata, is described and illustrated, and its biology is discussed. The male of this species has a wide subquadrate separation between the hypovalves of sternum 9. Additional distribution and seasonal data for Indochinese Mecoptera are provided.

New Cimbrophlebiidae (Insecta: Mecoptera) from the Early Eocene at McAbee, British Columbia, Canada and Republic, Washington, USA

Four new scorpionfly species of the family Cimbrophlebiidae (Mecoptera) are described in the genus Cimbrophlebia Willmann from two localities of the far-western North American Early Eocene Okanagan Highlands: C. flabelliformis sp. n. and C. leahyi sp. n. from McAbee, British Columbia, Canada; and C. brooksi sp. n. and C. westae, sp. n. from Republic, Washington, U.S.A. A further, partially preserved specimen of a large cimbrophlebiid from McAbee is treated as Cimbrophlebia sp. A. This is the first record of the extinct family in the Western Hemisphere, which was previously known with confidence from the Early Eocene of Denmark (C. bittaciformis Willmann) and the Jurassic of Germany (Malmocimbrophlebia buergeri Bechly &amp; Schweigert and an undescribed genus and species); Telobittacus fragosus Zhang from Early Cretaceous of China may also belong to the family. These Okanagan Highlands occurrences further reflect Early Eocene cross-North Atlantic distributions that have been well documented in plants and mammals, and are increasingly seen in insects.