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Meropeidae
Meropeidae is a family of tiny scorpionflies within the order Mecoptera with only three living species, commonly referred to as "earwigflies" (or sometimes "forcepflies"). These include the North American '' Merope tuber'', the Western Australian '' Austromerope poultoni'', and the recently discovered South American '' A. brasiliensis''. The biology of these species is essentially unknown, and their larvae have never been seen. The disjunct distribution suggests a common origin before the breakup of the ancient supercontinent of Pangaea. There are two undisputed extinct genera, '' Boreomerope antiqua'' known from an isolated wing found in the Middle Jurassic Itat Formation of Siberia and '' Burmomerope'' with three species from the mid Cretaceous (Cenomanian) aged Burmese amber. As such, the extant members of this family can be considered living fossils. These insects are also of interest due to their presumed basal position in the order Mecoptera. '' Thaumatomerope'' with four d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Merope Tuber
''Merope tuber'', the earwigfly or forcepfly, is the only species in the genus ''Merope'', and the only living member of the family Meropeidae in North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car .... It occurs throughout the east from Ontario to Georgia, and west to Kansas. Recently the insect has also been found in Florida. This insect's most distinguishing feature is the segmented cerci 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 nocturnal and secretive, sometimes found under logs or in malaise traps near streams, or attracted to lights at nighttime. No ''M. tuber'' or Meropeid larvae have been identified. The insect is characterized by long wings with many veins and n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Merope (insect)
''Merope tuber'', the earwigfly or forcepfly, is the only species in the genus ''Merope'', and the only living member of the family Meropeidae in North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car .... It occurs throughout the east from Ontario to Georgia, and west to Kansas. Recently the insect has also been found in Florida. This insect's most distinguishing feature is the segmented cerci 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 nocturnal and secretive, sometimes found under logs or in malaise traps near streams, or attracted to lights at nighttime. No ''M. tuber'' or Meropeid larvae have been identified. The insect is characterized by long wings with many veins and n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mecoptera
Mecoptera (from the Greek: ''mecos'' = "long", ''ptera'' = "wings") is an order of insects in the superorder Endopterygota with about six hundred species in nine families worldwide. Mecopterans are sometimes called scorpionflies after their largest family, Panorpidae, in which the males have enlarged genitals raised over the body that look similar to the stingers of scorpions, and long beaklike rostra. The Bittacidae, or hangingflies, are another prominent family and are known for their elaborate mating rituals, in which females choose mates based on the quality of gift prey offered to them by the males. A smaller group is the snow scorpionflies, family Boreidae, adults of which are sometimes seen walking on snowfields. In contrast, the majority of species in the order inhabit moist environments in tropical locations. The Mecoptera are closely related to the Siphonaptera (fleas), and a little more distantly to the Diptera (true flies). They are somewhat fly-like in appearance, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Austromerope
''Austromerope'' is a genus of forcepfly which contains only two known species, '' Austromerope poultoni'' from Western Australia, and the South American '' Austromerope brasiliensis''. They are small scorpionflies Mecoptera (from the Greek language, Greek: ''mecos'' = "long", ''ptera'' = "wings") is an Order (biology), order of insects in the superorder Endopterygota with about six hundred species in nine Family (biology), families worldwide. Mecopterans ..., 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 has been seen. Much of the biology of these insects is not known, due to their secretiveness and rarity. References * * Mecoptera Insects of Australia Insects of South America {{Mecoptera-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Itat Formation
The Itat Formation (Russian: итатская свита) is a geologic formation in western Siberia. It was deposited in the Bajocian to Bathonian ages of the Middle Jurassic. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation, including the proceratosaurid ''Kileskus'', as well as fish, amphibians, mammals and many other vertebrates. The formation is noted for bearing significant coal reserves, with large open pit coal mines extracting lignite from the unit currently in operation. Lithology The lower section of the formation is around 50–130 m thick, and consists of light grey sandstones with gravel, siltstone and rare coal beds. At the Dubinino locality, the 50 m exposed section of the upper part of the formation shows an irregular rhythmic alteration of fine grained sandstone, siltstone and mudstone and coal seams typically a few tens of cm's but up to several meters thick. The deposit is located on the South Eastern margin of the West Siberi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bee-eaters
The bee-eaters are a group of non-passerine birds in the family Meropidae, containing three genera and thirty species. Most species are found in Africa and Asia, with a few in southern Europe, Australia, and New Guinea. They are characterised by richly coloured plumage, slender bodies, and usually elongated central tail feathers. All have long down-turned bills and medium to long wings, which may be pointed or round. Male and female plumages are usually similar. As their name suggests, bee-eaters predominantly eat flying insects, especially bees and wasps, which are caught on the wing from an open perch. The insect's stinger is removed by repeatedly hitting and rubbing the insect on a hard surface. During this process, pressure is applied to the insect's body, thereby discharging most of the venom. Most bee-eaters are gregarious. They form colonies, nesting in burrows tunnelled into vertical sandy banks, often at the side of a river or in flat ground. As they mostly live in co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Living Fossil
A living fossil is an extant taxon that cosmetically resembles related species known only from the fossil record. To be considered a living fossil, the fossil species must be old relative to the time of origin of the extant clade. Living fossils commonly are of species-poor lineages, but they need not be. While the body plan of a living fossil remains superficially similar, it is never the same species as the remote relatives it resembles, because genetic drift would inevitably change its chromosomal structure. Living fossils exhibit stasis (also called "bradytely") over geologically long time scales. Popular literature may wrongly claim that a "living fossil" has undergone no significant evolution since fossil times, with practically no molecular evolution or morphological changes. Scientific investigations have repeatedly discredited such claims. The minimal superficial changes to living fossils are mistakenly declared as an absence of evolution, but they are examples of s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Austromerope Poultoni
''Austromerope poultoni'' is one of only two representatives of the genus ''Austromerope'' (the other is the South American '' Austromerope brasiliensis''), and the only member of the family Meropeidae in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is endemic to Western Australia, 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 has been seen. It is found in a variety of habitats, including woodland, jarrah ''Eucalyptus marginata'', commonly known as jarrah, djarraly in Noongar language and historically as Swan River mahogany, is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a tree with roug ... forest, and sand plain vegetation. References Mecoptera Insects of Australia Endemic fauna of Australia Insects described in 1933 {{Mecoptera-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Burmese Amber
Burmese amber, also known as Burmite or Kachin amber, is amber from the Hukawng Valley in northern Myanmar. The amber is dated to around 100 million years ago, during the latest Albian to earliest Cenomanian ages of the mid-Cretaceous period. The amber is of significant palaeontological interest due to the diversity of flora and fauna contained as inclusions, particularly arthropods including insects and arachnids but also birds, lizards, snakes, frogs and fragmentary dinosaur remains. The amber has been known and commercially exploited since the first century AD, and has been known to science since the mid-nineteenth century. Research on the deposit has attracted controversy due to its alleged role in funding internal conflict in Myanmar and hazardous working conditions in the mines where it is collected. Geological context, depositional environment and age The amber is found within the Hukawng Basin, a large Cretaceous-Cenozoic sedimentary basin within northern Myanmar. The s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Austromerope Brasiliensis
''Austromerope brasiliensis'' is one of only two living representatives of the genus ''Austromerope'' (the other is the Australian ''Austromerope poultoni''). It is apparently endemic to Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ..., with large forceps-like structures at the tail and two pairs of wings. Only adults are known - no larval stage has been seen. References * * Mecoptera Endemic fauna of Brazil {{Mecoptera-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the east. Its capital and largest city is Bishkek. Ethnic Kyrgyz make up the majority of the country's seven million people, followed by significant minorities of Uzbeks and Russians. The Kyrgyz language is closely related to other Turkic languages. Kyrgyzstan's history spans a variety of cultures and empires. Although geographically isolated by its highly mountainous terrain, Kyrgyzstan has been at the crossroads of several great civilizations as part of the Silk Road along with other commercial routes. Inhabited by a succession of tribes and clans, Kyrgyzstan has periodically fallen under larger domination. Turkic nomads, who trace their ancestry to many Turkic states. It was first established as the Yenisei Kyrgyz Khaganate later in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Madygen Formation
The Madygen Formation (Russian: Madygen Svita) is a Late Triassic (Carnian) geologic formation and Lagerstätte in the Batken and Osh Regions of western Kyrgyzstan, with minor outcrops in neighboring Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The conglomerates, sandstones and mudstones of the thick formation were deposited in terrestrial lacustrine, alluvial, fluvial and deltaic environments. The formation, extending across the Fergana Valley and Fergana Range, is unique for Central Asia, as it represents one of the few known continental deposits and the Madygen Formation is renowned for the preservation of more than 20,000 fossil insects, making it one of the richest Triassic Lagerstätten in the world. Other vertebrate fossils as fish, amphibians, reptiles and synapsids have been recovered from the formation too, as well as minor fossil flora. The lake sediments of the Lagerstätte provided fossil cartilaginous fishes and their egg capsules and unusual Triassic reptiles like ''Sharovipteryx'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
