Search

Eomerope macabeensis sp. nov. (Mecoptera: Eomeropidae) is described from the Early Eocene (Ypresian) McAbee locality in British Columbia, Canada. This is the first record of the family Eomeropidae in the Okanagan Highlands fossil deposits of British Columbia (Canada) and Washington state (United States). Previously known Cenozoic occurrences of the family include Eomerope tortriciformis Cockerell 1909 from the Eocene of Florissant, CO; Eomerope pacifica Ponomarenko & Rasnitsyn 1974 from the Paleocene Tadushi Formation., and Eomerope asiatica Ponomarenko & Rasnitsyn 1974 from the Eocene or Oligocene Amgu River of far-eastern Russia; and the extant Notiothauma reedi MacLachlan, 1877, from southern Chile. The new species seems to be closely related to E. asiatica. Where environmental parameters are known, these occurrences are mostly from highlands, with upper microthermal to mid-mesothermal climates and mild winters. N. reedi is phytophagous or saprophagous. Although Cenozoic Eomeropidae are associated with Fagus, Nothofagus, or Fagopsis-dominated forests in the Western Hemisphere, the Fagaceae and Nothofagaceae are minor elements or not known in the Russian localities. Intercontinental dispersal by either Gondwanan or Beringian routes is possible.

The hunting and mating behavior of Bittacus mastrillii Navas was studied at 830 and 1,600 m above sea level. In the former population, both males and females congregated after sunset at thistle flowers in full bloom to prey on insects; they also mated continuously at the same site. At the higher site, males visited the forest edge to prey on arthropods in the afternoon. Males used wide-area searching with flight (vegetation sweeping) to hunt prey. Prey-hunting males lured females with pheromone emission. Simultaneous feeding by both sexes during the prolonged copulation was observed at low temperatures. B. mastrillii hunted at air temperatures of ≈6-16°C at both sites. Differences in the daily active periods between the 2 populations are correlated with differences in elevations. The difference in the daily active period leads to a difference in resource availability. B. mastrillii is able to switch its hunting behavior according to the spatiotemporal distribution and abundance of prey arthropods. Males are able to switch their mating behavior in response to changes in their hunting behavior.

The hunting and mating behavior of Bittacus mastrillii Navas was studied in the mountainous region of central Japan. Adults emerged from mid-September to mid-October and exhibited positive phototaxy. Both males and females congregated at a particular type of flowering plant to prey on other insects after sunset and continuously mated at the same site. The hunting site was on thistle flowers, Cirsium microspicatum Nakai, in full bloom, where motionless crane flies and moths were hunted easily. Three types of male mating behavior were observed under artificially lighted areas (air temperature was 8–12°C): (1) olfactory calling behavior , where prey-hunting males lure females through pheromone emission; (2) gift-from-passive-feinale behavior , where males copulate with prey-hunting females without providing any resources except sperm; and (3) saliva-secreting behavior , where males copulate forcibly with females while secreting saliva. The foraging specialization of hunting live insects on thistle flowers without unnecessary energy losses makes it possible to subsist at low temperature conditions.

The predatory and sexual behaviors of Bittacus stigmaterus Say under field conditions are described and compared to the same behaviors in 3 other Bittacus species. Sexual selection has apparently been important in the evolution of predatory and mating behavior in bittacids in general. Male genetic quality as a criterion of female choice is briefly discussed.

Our knowledge of the head and mouth-parts of the Mecoptera is fragmentary. Nothing comprehensive has been published dealing with the study of a collection of genera and species representative of the entire order. It was with the object of contributing to our knowledge of the morphology of the head and mouth-parts of the Mecoptera and to invite further investigation on the subject that this study was undertaken.

The larvae of Panorpa lugubris Swederus and Panorpa virginica Banks are described and keyed. Adults of P. lugubris inhabit open fields, whereas adults of P. virginica, more typical of the genus, are found along the edge of wooded areas. In the laboratory, adults of both species readily accepted dead grasshoppers as food. Larvae of both species consumed dead grasshoppers, dead flies, mushrooms, and other plant material. P. virginica fared best on mushrooms, while P. lugubris developed rapidly on the dead insects.

Recent discoveries in fossil insects have served to bring into considerable prominence the small and previously greatly neglected Order Mecoptera, or Scorpion-flies. At the present time, this Order is one of the smallest of all insect Orders, less than 200 species having been described from all parts of the world. Fossil representatives of the Order have long been known from the Liassic and Upper Jurassic of Europe; but it was not until 1916 that I described the first Triassic form (Tillyard, 1916). This was followed in 1918 (Tillyard, 1918) by the description of the first Upper Permian form, and in 1926 (Tillyard, 1926a) by the account of the Lower Permian Mecoptera from Kansas. Since that time, valuable papers have been published by Martynov (1927, 1928, 1930) describing Mecoptera from the Upper Permian and Jurassic of various parts of Russia, Turkestan and Siberia, and by F. M. Carpenter (1930) on the Lower Permian fauna of Kansas, while I have added further records from the Upper Permian and Upper Trias of Australia (Tillyard, 1917, 1919 a , 1919 b , 1926 b ) and have also, quite recently, revised the rich Liassic material in the British Museum in a paper which should be in print shortly before this (Tillyard, 1933). I have also (Tillyard, 1926a, p. 161) indicated the reasons for considering Metropator pusillus Handl. to be a true member of the Order Mecoptera, although this wing is one of the eight oldest known fossil insect wings yet discovered, its age being Lower Upper Carboniferous (Lower Pottsville Series).

Near my home in Ashland, Ohio, there is a small glen where I used to collect mosquitoes. The glen is shaded by elm, black walnut, basswood, and box elder trees; a tangle of raspberry bramble and pea vine contains isolated clumps of jewelweed, bur-marigold, or boneset; and mosses, grasses, violets, and bedstraw cover the ground. A well is located on a hillside, and a creek flows periodically through the glen.

Types of most of the 26 species of North American Mecoptera originally placed in European museums were examined by the author in 1960. Four of these have been regarded as synonymous with earlier described species, and three additional synonymies are proposed, as follows: Panorpa debilis Westwood (= P. canadensis Banks), P. subfurcata Westwood (= P. signifer Banks), and P. rufescens Rambur (= P. venosa Westwood). Panorpa galerita (= P. subfurcata of authors, not Westwood) and P. Helena (= P. venosa of authors, not Westwood) replace older names based upon misidentifications. Lectotypes are designated for several species.

Since practically all of the recent attempts to trace the phylogeny of insects have been based upon the study of the wing veins, which are extremely variable features within the same order, or even family, of insects, it has seemed advisable to examine other less variable structures, and those from widely different parts of the body, in order to ascertain if such a study would confirm or disprove the conclusions reached from a study of the wing veins alone. The present paper is therefore offered as one of a series in which the various structures which appear to be the most useful for a phylogenetic study, have been compared in the Neuroptera, Mecoptera, Diptera and Trichoptera. Many of the accompanying rough sketches were made from material kindly loaned to me by Dr. N. K. Banks, to whom I am deeply indebted for many valuable suggestions, and for the privilege of examining the specimens in his unusually extensive collection of Neuroptera, Mecoptera, and Trichoptera. I am also greatly indebted to Dr. C. W. Johnson for the identification of the Diptera used in the preparation of this paper.

In arranging the collection of Mecoptera in the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, I have come across certain items that seem sufficient interest to be brought to the attention of other students North American Mecoptera. A part of this collection was examined by Dr. F. M. Carpenter and used in the preparation of his 1931 “Revision of the Nearctic Mecoptera.” It contains the holotype of Panorpa submaculosa Carp., the allotypes of P. submaculosa, P. chelata Carp., and P. mirabilis Carp., and several paratypes of these three species, as well as of P. isolata Carp, and P. longicornis Carp. To this older collection have been added a small number of specimens of various species, accumulated through the years since 1931, a group of eightyone specimens from various eastern states and provinces, collected by Mr. George Steyskal of Detroit, and my collections from five summers' field trips, in 1949–1953. These notes are based primarily upon the latter collections.

The original concept of a panorpoid complex is redefined cladistically and is restricted to the taxon Panorpida, including the orders Mecoptera, Diptera, Siphonaptera, Trichoptera and Lepidoptera. Morphological details clarifying the reasons for not including the Neuroptera (sensu lato) are discussed.