Meropeidae
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The Meropeidae are a tiny family of the order Mecoptera with only two species.
The earwigfly, Merope tuber, is the only species in the family in North America. It occurs throughout the east from Ontario to Georgia, and west to Kansas. This insect's most distinguishing feature is the enormous segmented claspers on the male abdomen. The function of these is not known, but they may be used during courtship. Much is unknown about the adults, which are secretive, sometimes found under logs or in malaise traps near streams. There is a region of interlocking sclerites that holds the jugum and scutellum on the middle thoracic segment together. This may be used to keep the wings together when pushing up through dirt. A similar apparatus is found in cicadas and ground dwelling beetles, so it may be that the winged adults dig in soil.
The Australian member of the family, endemic to Western Australia, is Austromerope. It is typically around 20mm long, with large forceps-like structures at the tail and two pairs of wings. Only adults and eggs from captured adults are known - no larval stage had been seen. It is found in a variety of habitats, including woodland, Jarrah forest, and sand plain vegetation. Much of the biology of these insects is not known, due to their secretiveness and rarity.
The disjunct distribution, only North America and Western Australia, is reminiscent of that of the marsupial possum.
These insects are also of interest due to their basal position in the order Mecoptera. The larvae of all insects in the family Meropeidae are unknown.
[edit] Species
- Austromerope poultoni Killington, 1933 (Australia)
- Merope tuber Newman, 1838 (USA, Canada)
[edit] References
- Abbott, I., Burbidge, T., Wills, A. (2007). "Austromerope poultoni (Insecta, Mecoptera) in south-west Western Australia; occurrence, modelled geographical distribution and phenology". Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia 90: 97–106.
- Faithfull, M. J., J. D. Majer, and A. C. Postle (1985). "Some notes on the occurrence and seasonality of Austromerope poultoni (Mecoptera) in western Australia". Australian Entomological Magazine 12: 57–60.
- Hlavac, T.F. (1974). "Merope tuber (Mecoptera): A wing-body interlocking mechanism". Psyche 81: 303. doi:.
- Wills, Allan (2007). "Earwig Flies? Ancient and Mysterious Insects". Western Wildlife 12 (1): 5.
