Apteropanorpidae is a

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

of wingless

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 ...

containing a single genus, ''Apteropanorpa'', with four named species. These species, also called Tasmanian snow scorpionflies, are found in moss in

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

and southern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The adults are generalised predators. The larvae live in moss and are locally common. ''Apteropanorpa'' is probably an austral ecological counterpart of the

Northern Hemisphere The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the Equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined as being in the same celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the solar system as Earth's Nort ...

Boreidae Boreidae, commonly called snow scorpionflies, or in the British Isles, snow fleas (no relation to the snow flea ''Hypogastrura nivicola'') are a very small family of scorpionflies, containing only around 30 species, all of which are boreal or hi ...

, adapting to colder climates by losing its wings and feeding on the abundant understory mosses. Both groups have been collected on snow and at high elevations. However, these two groups are probably not sister groups, as males of ''Apteropanorpa'' have developed the bulbous, recurved abdomen found in advanced families, such as

Panorpidae The Panorpidae are a family of scorpionflies containing more than 480 species. The family is the largest family in Mecoptera, covering approximately 70% species of the order. Species range between 9–25 mm long. These insects have four mem ...

. The best-known species, ''Apteropanorpa tasmanica'', is known to carry two species of parasitic mites.Seeman, O.D., Palmer, C.M. 2011: Parasitism of ''Apteropanorpa tasmanica'' Carpenter (Mecoptera: Apteropanorpidae) by larval ''Leptus agrotis'' Southcott (Acari: Erythraeidae) and ''Willungella rufusanus'' sp. nov. (Acari: Microtrombidiidae). ''Zootaxa'', 2925: 19–32
Preview
/ref>

Etymology

The genus name is derived from Panorpidae, a related family, and

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

''apteros'' "wingless".

References

Mecoptera Monogeneric insect families {{Mecoptera-stub

Etymology

See also

References