''Austromerope poultoni'' is one of only two representatives of the genus ''

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 Gree ...

'' (the other is the South American '' Austromerope brasiliensis''), and the only member of the family

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 Australia ...

in the

Eastern Hemisphere The Eastern Hemisphere is the half of the planet Earth which is east of the prime meridian (which crosses Greenwich, London, United Kingdom) and west of the antimeridian (which crosses the Pacific Ocean and relatively little land from pole to pol ...

. It is endemic to

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

, 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