Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Diet and Feeding Behavior in Adults of the Apteropanorpidae (Mecoptera)

  • Published:
Journal of Insect Behavior Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The Apteropanorpidae is a small family of scorpionflies endemic to Tasmania. The biology of the family is almost completely unknown. Here we present results of laboratory and field studies of the diet and feeding behavior of adult Apteropanorpidae. We describe the morphology of the alimentary canal and mouthparts and discuss the relationship between diet, feeding behavior and morphology. We compare these results to the feeding ecology of other extant Mecoptera, and speculate on the feeding strategies of fossil Mecoptera, placing all data in a phylogenetic context. Results show that adult Apteropanorpidae are most likely saprophagous in nature, predominantly on dead and decaying invertebrates.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alcock, J. (1979). Selective mate choice by females of Harpobittacus australis (Mecoptera: Bittacidae). Psyche 86: 213–217.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bornemissza, G. F. (1966). Observations on the hunting and mating behaviour of two species of scorpion flies (Bittacidae: Mecoptera). Aust. J. Zool. 14: 371–382.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bush, G. L. (1967). The comparative cytology of the Choristidae and Nannochoristidae (Mecoptera). Am. Philos. Soc. Yearb. 1966: 326–328.

    Google Scholar 

  • Byers, G. W. (1963). The life history of Panorpa nuptialis (Mecoptera: Panorpidae). Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 56: 142–149.

    Google Scholar 

  • Byers, G. W. (1971). Ecological distribution and structural adaptation in the classification of Mecoptera. In Proceedings of the XIII International Congress of Entomology, 2–9 August 1968, Vol. 1, pp. 486.

  • Byers, G. W. (1991). Mecoptera (Scorpion-flies, hanging-flies). In CSIRO (ed.), The Insects of Australia: A Textbook for Students and Research Workers, 2nd ed., Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, pp. 696–704.

    Google Scholar 

  • Byers, G. W. (1997). Biology of Brachypanorpa (Mecoptera: Panorpodidae). J. Kans. Entomol. Soc. 70(4): 313–322.

    Google Scholar 

  • Byers, G. W., and Thornhill, R. (1983). Biology of the Mecoptera. Ann. Rev. Entomol. 28: 203–228.

    Google Scholar 

  • Byers, G. W., and Yeates, D. K. (1999). A second species of Apteropanorpa Carpenter from Tasmania (Mecoptera: Apteropanorpidae). Aust. J. Entomol. 38: 60–65.

    Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, F. L. (1929). The detection and estimation of insect chitin; and the irrelation of “chitinisation” to hardness and pigmentation of the cuticula of the American cockroach, Periplaneta americana L. Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 22: 401–426.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carpenter, F. M. (1930). The lower Permian insects of Kansas. Pt. 1. Introduction and the order Mecoptera. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harv. Univ. 70: 69–101.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carpenter, F. M. (1941). A new genus of Mecoptera from Tasmania. Pap. Proc. R. Soc. Tasmania 1940: 51–53.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carpenter, F. M. (1953). The biology of Brachypanorpa (Mecoptera). Psyche 60: 28–36.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooper, K. W. (1974). Sexual biology, chromosomes, development, life histories and parasites of Boreus, especially of B. notoperates. A southern California Boreus. II. (Mecoptera: Boreidae). Psyche 81: 84–120.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crane, P. R., Friis, E. M., and Pedersen, K. R. (1995). The origin and early diversification of angiosperms. Nature 374: 27–33.

    Google Scholar 

  • Curtis, W. M. (1956). The Students Flora of Tasmania. Part 1, Government Printer, Hobart.

    Google Scholar 

  • Evans, J. W. (1942). A mecopterous larva from Tasmania and notes on the morphology of the insect head. Pap. Proc. R. Soc. Tasmania 1941: 31–35.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gridley, M. F. (1953). A stain for fungi in tissue sections. Am. J. Clin. Pathol. 23: 303–307.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hepburn, H. R. (1969). The proventriculus of Mecoptera. J. Geor. Entomol. Soc. 4(4): 159–167.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hetrick, L. A. (1935). The morphology of the head of the scorpionfly (Panorpa nuptialis Gerst.) (Mecoptera). Proc. Louis. Acad. Sci. 2: 113–120.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaltenbach, A. (1978). Mecoptera (Schnabelhafte, Schnabelfliegen). Hand. Zool. 4(2)2/28: 1–111.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kirkpatrick, J. (1997). Alpine Tasmania: An Illustrated Guide to the Flora and Vegetation, Oxford University Press, Melbourne.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kukalová-Peck, J. (1991). Fossil history and the evolution of hexapod structures. In CSIRO (ed.), The Insects of Australia: A Textbook for Students and Research Workers, 2nd edn. Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, pp. 141–179.

    Google Scholar 

  • Labandeira, C. C. (1997). Insect mouthparts: Ascertaining the paleobiology of insect feeding strategies. Ann. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 28: 153–193.

    Google Scholar 

  • Labandeira, C. C., Beall, B. S., and Hueber, F. M. (1988). Early insect diversification: Evidence from a Lower Devonian bristletail from Quebec. Science 242: 913–916.

    Google Scholar 

  • Labandeira, C. C., and Sepkoski, J. J., Jr. (1993). Insect diversity in the fossil record. Science 261: 310–315.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miyaké, T. (1912). The life-history of Panorpa klugi McLachlan. J. Agric. Imp. Univ. Tokyo 4(2): 117–138.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miyaké, T. (1913). Studies on the Mecoptera of Japan. J. Agric. Imp. Univ. Tokyo 4(6): 265–400.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mochizuki, A. (1998). Characteristics of digestive proteases in the gut of some insect orders. Appl. Entomol. Zool. 33(3): 401–407.

    Google Scholar 

  • Palmer, C. M., Siebke, K., and Yeates, D. K. (2004). Infrared video thermography: A technique for assessing cold adaptation in insects. BioTechniques 37(2): 212–217.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peña, G. L. E. (1968). Natural history notes on Notiothauma. Discovery 4(1): 43–44.

    Google Scholar 

  • Penny, N. D. (1977). A systematic study of the family Boreidae (Mecoptera). Univ. Kans. Sci. Bull. 51(5): 141–217.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pinto, I. D. (1972). Permian insects from the Paraná Basin, south Brazil I. Mecoptera. Rev. Bras. de Geociências 2: 105–116.

    Google Scholar 

  • Post, E. E., and Laudermilk, J. D. (1942). A new microchemical reaction for cellulose. Stain Tech. 17(1): 21–24.

    Google Scholar 

  • Potter, E. (1938). The internal anatomy of the order Mecoptera. Trans. R. Entomol. Soc. London 87(20): 467–501.

    Google Scholar 

  • Riek, E. F. (1953). Fossil mecopteroid insects from the Upper Permian of New South Wales. Rec. Aust. Mus. 23: 55–87.

    Google Scholar 

  • Riek, E. F. (1970). Mecoptera (Scorpion-flies). In CSIRO (ed.), The Insects of Australia: A Textbook for Students and Research Workers, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, pp. 636–646.

    Google Scholar 

  • Russell, L. K. (1979). A new genus and a new species of Boreidae from Oregon (Mecoptera). Proc. Entomol. Soc. Wash. 81(1): 22–31.

    Google Scholar 

  • Russell, L. K. (1982). The life history of Caurinus dectes Russell, with a description of the immature stages (Mecoptera: Boreidae). Entomol. Scand. 13: 225–235.

    Google Scholar 

  • Setty, L. R. (1931). The biology of Bittacus stigmaterus Say (Mecoptera, Bittacusidae). Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 24: 467–484.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sukatsheva, I. D. (1990). Scorpion flies. Panorpida. In Rasnitsyn, A. P. (ed.), Late Mesozoic insects of eastern Transbaikalia. Trans. Paleontol Inst. 239: 88–94.

  • Sukatsheva, I. D., and Rasnitsyn, A. P. (1992). First members of the family Boreidae (Insecta, Panorpida) from the Upper Jurassic of Mongolia and the Lower Cretaceous of Trans. Paleontol. J. 26(1): 168–172.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thornhill, R. (1976). Sexual selection and nuptial feeding behaviour in Bittacus apicalis (Insecta: Mecoptera). Am. Nat. 110: 529–548.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thornhill, R. (1977). The comparative predatory and sexual behavior of hanging-flies (Mecoptera: Bittacidae). Occ. Pap. Mus. Zool. Univ. Mich. 677: 1–43.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thornhill, R. (1979). Male pair-forming hormones in Panorpa scorpion flies (Mecoptera: Panorpidae). Environ. Entomol. 8: 886–888.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thornhill, R. (1980). Competition and coexistence among Panorpa scorpion flies (Mecoptera: Panorpidae). Ecol. Monogr. 50(2): 179–197.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Geel, B. (2001). Non-pollen palynomorphs. In Smol, J. P., Birks, H. J. B., and Last, W. M. (eds.), Tracking Environmental Change Using Lake Sediments. Volume 3: Terrestrial, Algal, and Siliceous Indicators, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, pp. 99–119.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whiting, M. F. (2002). Mecoptera is paraphyletic: Multiple genes and phylogeny of Mecoptera and Siphonaptera. Zool. Scripta 31: 93–104.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wigglesworth, V. B. (1972). The Principles of Insect Physiology, 7th edn., Chapman and Hall, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Willmann, R. (1989). Evolution und phylogenetisches system der Mecoptera (Insecta: Holometabola). Abh. senckenberg. naturforsch. Ges. 544: 1–153.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Botany and Zoology, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia

    Christopher M. Palmer

  2. CSIRO Entomology, Canberra, GPO Box 1700, ACT 2601, Australia

    Christopher M. Palmer & David K. Yeates

Authors
  1. Christopher M. Palmer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. David K. Yeates
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Christopher M. Palmer.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Palmer, C.M., Yeates, D.K. Diet and Feeding Behavior in Adults of the Apteropanorpidae (Mecoptera). J Insect Behav 18, 209–231 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10905-005-0476-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10905-005-0476-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation