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Background: Cerapanorpa Gao, Ma & Hua, 2016, an endemic genus of Panorpidae in central China’s mountain regions, currently comprises 21 described species. Recently, the short-horned scorpionfly C. brevicornis (Hua & Li, 2007) was confirmed to contain two valid species by phylogeographic and morphological data. Individuals from the highlands of the eastern Bashan Mountains were suggested as a good species, separated from the original shorthorned C. brevicornis. New information: Cerapanorpa alpina sp. nov. was described from the alpine zone of the eastern Bashan Mountains in central China. The new species differs from its congeners by the following combination of characters: male bearing an extra-short anal horn on posterior margin of tergum VI; paramere elongate, extending beyond the median tooth of gonostylus and curved laterally at basal half; female medigynium slightly constricted medially without dorsal basal plate. The species number of Cerapanorpa is raised to 22. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Sexual 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. Results: We 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. Conclusions: The 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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new species of Panorpidae, Panorpa bashanicola sp. n., is described and illustrated from the Bashan Mountains in central China. The new species is characterized by the following characters: vertex black, with two pale longitudinal stripes and four pale rounded spots; vein 1A ending before the origin of Rs; meso- and metanotum pale, and the pale color extending to tergum III in V-shape; male epandrium emarginate distally in deep U-shape; hypovalves without basal stalk, completely represented by a pair of short hypovalves, extending to distal third of gonocoxite, with five black stout setae in distal portion; paramere simple, S-shaped; a bundle of long hairs between dorsal and ventral valves of aedeagus; dorsal valves of aedeagus much longer than ventral valves and curved ventrally, with distal portion foot-shaped; female medigynium twice as long as wide, with stout axis extending over one-third its length beyond main plate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Acisarcuatus variradius gen. et sp. nov., an extinct new species representing a new genus, is described from the Middle Jurassic Jiulongshan Formation in Daohugou Village, Inner Mongolia, China. Methodology/Principal Findings: In this paper, we revised the diagnosis of Necrotauliidae Handlirsch, 1906. One new genus and species of Necrotauliidae is described. An analysis based on the fossil morphological characters clarified the taxonomic status of the new taxa. Conclusions/Significance: New fossil evidence supports the viewpoint that the family Necrotauliidae belongs to the Integripalpia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The early history of Panorpidae (Mecoptera) is poorly known due to sparse fossil records. Up to date, only nine fossil species have been described, all from the Paleogene, except the Early Cretaceous Solusipanorpa gibbidorsa Lin, 1980. However, we suggest S. gibbidorsa is too incompletely preserved to permit even family classification. A new genus with two new species, Jurassipanorpa impunctata gen. et sp. n. and Jurassipanorpa sticta sp. n., are described based on four well-preserved specimens from the late Middle Jurassic Jiulongshan Formation of Daohugou, Inner Mongolia, China. These two new species are the earliest fossil records of Panorpidae. The new genus is erected based on a combination of forewing characters: both R1 and Rs1 with two branches, 1A reaching posterior margin of wing distad of the forking of Rs from R1, and no crossveins or only one crossvein between veins of 1A and 2A. In all four specimens, long and robust setae ranging from 0.09 to 0.38 mm in length and pointing anteriorly, are present on anal veins of forewings. The function of these setae is enigmatic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current knowledge of the Chinese species of the hangingfly genusBittacusLatreille, 1805 is reviewed. A checklist of the known species is provided. A key to species is compiled. Three species ofBittacusare described as new to science:Bittacus longantennatussp. nov. from Sichuan and Hubei,Bittacus setigerussp. nov. from Hubei and Guizhou, andBittacus jiulianshanussp. nov. from Jiangxi.http://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:5167E4E9-C123-4C1E-B33F-BCC7AF873BEA [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dicerapanorpagen. nov. is erected withPanorpa magnaChou as its type species. The genus is recognizable by the following characters: body yellowish with two blackish lateral longitudinal stripes on dorsum; tergum VI of males with two anal horns; abdominal segment VII of males much thinner at the basal half and abruptly thicker at apical half; parameres of males trifurcate; female genital plate with the axis not extending beyond the main plate. Six new combinations,Dicerapanorpa magna(Chou in Chou et al., 1981),D. diceras(MacLachlan, 1894),D. stotzneri(Esben-Petersen, 1934),D. tjederi(Carpenter, 1938),D. kimminsi(Carpenter, 1948) andD. triclada(Qian and Zhou, 2001) are transferred fromPanorpaLinnaeus.Dicerapanorpa baiyunshanasp. nov. andDicerapanorpa shennongensissp. nov. are described and illustrated. A key to the genera of Panorpidae is updated to include the new genus. A key to the species ofDicerapanorpagen. nov. is also presented.http://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:F50E44C3-7275-4EC8-B048-4C7B2C6D57EF [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A near-perfect mimetic association between a mecopteran insect species and a ginkgoalean plant species from the late Middle Jurassic of northeastern China recently has been discovered. The association stems from a case of mixed identity between a particular plant and an insect in the laboratory and the field. This confusion is explained as a case of leaf mimesis, wherein the appearance of the multilobed leaf of Yimaia capituliformis (the ginkgoalean model) was accurately replicated by the wings and abdomen of the cimbrophlebiid Juracimbrophlebia ginkgofolia (the hangingfly mimic). Our results suggest that hangingflies developed leaf mimesis either as an antipredator avoidance device or possibly as a predatory strategy to provide an antiherbivore function for its plant hosts, thus gaining mutual benefit for both the hangingfly and the ginkgo species. This documentation of mimesis is a rare occasion whereby exquisitely preserved, co-occurring fossils occupy a narrow spatiotemporal window that reveal likely reciprocal mechanisms which plants and insects provide mutual defensive support during their preangiospermous evolutionary histories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Three new species of Jeholopsyche Ren, Shih et Labandeira in the family Aneuretopsychidae, Jeholopsyche completa sp. nov., J. bella sp. nov. and J. maxima sp. nov., are described and illustrated in this paper. These well-preserved specimens were collected from the Early Cretaceous of Yixian Formation, Jehol Biota, Huangbanjigou Village, Liaoning Province, China. The new species enhance our understanding and broaden the diversity of this family, and provide morphological characters for future phylogenetic studies of Aneuretopsychidae. These insects with siphonate proboscides support a previously documented finding that aneuretopsychids were fluid feeders on the secretions and exudates of contemporaneous gymnospermous reproductive structures coexisting in the Yixian Formation. From the proboscis structure and inferred ecological relationships, we believe that these three new species, with proboscid lengths ranging from 3.5 to 14.5 mm, were pollinators of gymnosperm hosts that bore a broad size-range of deep funnel or other tubular structures laden with nectar-like fluid rewards. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Male genitalia have been widely used in taxonomy and phylogenetic analysis in most groups of insects. However, except in a few groups, taxonomists have widely overlooked or neglected the significance of female genitalia for phylogenetic analysis. The female genital plates of 26 species in four genera of East Asian Panorpidae (Mecoptera) were investigated using light and scanning electronic microscopy. The phylogeny of these species was analysed with maximum parsimony based on characters derived from the female genital plates, in combination with other characters, employing Brachypanorpa carolinensis and Panorpodes kuandianensis (Panorpodidae) as outgroups. The results show that the female genital plate of the Panorpidae is a reliable character both for species delimitation and phylogenetic analysis. The monophyly of the genus Sinopanorpa is well supported in the topology. The genus Panorpa is reconfirmed to be paraphyletic and probably deserves subdivision. Notably, the P. amurensis, P. centralis (= P. cornigera group), and P. diceras groups are evidently monophyletic and might merit generic or subgeneric status. However, the P. davidi group is definitely paraphyletic and needs further systematic study. The origins and evolutionary pathway of the female genital plate of the Panorpidae are briefly discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Aneuretopsychidae is an unspeciose and enigmatic family of long-proboscid insects that presently consist of one known genus and three species from the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous of north-central Asia. In this paper, a new genus and species of fossil aneuretopsychid is described and illustrated, Jeholopsyche liaoningensis gen. et sp. n. Fossils representing this new taxon were collected from mid Early Cretaceous strata of the well known Jehol Biota in Liaoning Province, China. This finding documents the first formal record of fossil Aneuretopsychidae in China. In addition, this well-preserved and new material reveals previously unknown and detailed morphological structure of the mouthparts, antennae, head, thorax, legs and abdomen of this distinctive insect lineage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The morphology of the male salivary glands of eighteen species of Panorpidae from China was studied using light microscopy. The results show that the male salivary glands differ markedly both at generic and specific levels. In Neopanorpa, the salivary glands consist of only two simple long secretory tubes extending to the fifth or sixth abdominal segment, whereas in Sinopanorpa, the salivary glands are composed of six extremely elongated secretory tubes. In Panorpa, the salivary glands are quite diverse, comprising two simple short secretory tubes only extending to the prothorax in the P. amurensis group (P. liui and P. jilinensis), six long tubes in the P. centralis group, eight to twelve in the P. diceras group and of a very variable number in the P. davidi group (especially in P. bifasciata and P. subambra). Morphology of the male salivary glands should be included in future studies on the systematics and phylogeny of the Panorpidae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Mesozoic family Mesopsychidae Tillyard, 1917 presently consists of seven described genera and 13 species from the mid-Triassic to the Early Cretaceous of Australia, South Africa and Eurasia. In the present paper one new genus and three new species of fossil mesopsychids are described that add significant distributional and stratigraphic extensions to the family. This finding documents the first formal record of fossil Mesopsychidae in China. Both Lichnomesopsyche gloriae gen. et sp. nov. and L. daohugouensis gen. et sp. nov. were found from the Middle Jurassic Jiulongshan Formation of Inner Mongolia, whereas Vitimopsyche kozlovi sp. nov., of mid Early Cretaceous age, was collected from the Jehol Biota of northern Hebei Province. This new, well-preserved material from China reveals complete and previously unknown body features, including head, antennae, mouthparts, legs and abdomen. The delicate and long proboscides of these new taxa indicate that they were feeding on externally exposed, nutrient-rich fluids of gymnospermous ovulate fructifications, and incapable of piercing surface epidermis - attributable principally to the absence of stylets. These proboscides originated, perhaps multiply, among basal Mecoptera and are functionally and structurally convergent with equivalent mouthparts borne by fossil and extant Diptera, Lepidoptera, Neuroptera and Coleoptera. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper two new species of fossil Pseudopolycentropus Handlirsch, 1906 are described: Pseudopolycentropus janeannae sp. nov. and P. novokshonovi, sp. nov. All of them were recovered from the Middle Jurassic non-marine sedimentary strata of northeastern China. The new material from China reveals that the early diversification of pseudopolycentropodids was well underway by the Middle Jurassic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new species of the scorpionfly, Panorpa longihypovalva sp. nov., is described and illustrated from the Qinling-Bashan Mountains, the dividing line between the Palearctic and the Oriental Regions in central China. The immature stages, including egg and larva, were obtained through rearing. Its biology and behaviour are briefly reported and illustrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The hump-shaped pattern of species richness and the allochronic divergence of adult scorpionflies emergence were found. • Spatial-temporal niche divergence was found in closely-related species. • Most scorpionflies preferred cool habitats covered with dense woods at intermediate elevations in mountain regions. • The habitat shrinking caused by global warming may be the biggest threat to cool-adapted relict species of scorpionflies in mountain regions. Scorpionflies (Mecoptera, Panorpidae) as a relict group of holometabolous insects normally inhabit dense vegetations of mountain regions in the northern hemisphere. They are vulnerable to temperature changes and deforestation and thus play a significant role in insect conservation as ecological indicators. However, their elevational distribution and seasonal emergence patterns remain largely unknown. We documented the elevational richness gradient of scorpionflies in the Qinling Mountains, central China. The result revealed a distinct pattern of mid-elevational peak (hump-shaped) in species richness. The linear relationship between elevational locations of the whole community and emergence dates showed a gradual movement from lower to higher elevations over time. Niche divergence is an important ecological mechanism for closely related species to co-exist in the same region. Our investigation showed that allochronic divergences of adult emergence occurred mainly in intermediate elevations to reduce interspecific competition for resources. Spatio-temporal niche divergence was also detected in closely related species, especially in Cerapanorpa scorpionflies. Our results showed a clearer pattern of elevational diversity of scorpionflies and indicated that niche conservatism and divergence could explain the richness pattern at the same time. The area of intermediate elevations with the greatest species richness should receive a priority consideration for insect conservation for such a cool-adapted group of insects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]