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Meropeidae
Meropeidae is a family of tiny scorpionflies within the order Mecoptera with only three known living species, commonly referred to as "earwigflies" (or sometimes "forcepflies"), based on the earwig-like forceps-shaped male genitalia. The living species are the North American ''Merope tuber'', the Western Australian ''Austromerope poultoni'', and the recently discovered South American ''Austromerope brasiliensis, A. brasiliensis''. The biology of these species is essentially unknown, and their larvae have never been seen. The adults have been suggested to probably be saprophagous, though they have never been observed feeding. The fossil record of the group extends back to the Jurassic. The earliest known member is ''Boreomerope, Boreomerope antiqua'' known from an isolated wing found in the Middle Jurassic Itat Formation of Siberia. Other extinct genera include ''Burmomerope'' with three species and ''Torvimerope'' with one species are both from the mid Cretaceous (Cenomanian) aged ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Merope Tuber
''Merope tuber'', the earwigfly or forcepfly, is the monotypic, only species in the genus ''Merope'', and the only living member of the family Meropeidae in North America. 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 Cercus, cerci on the male abdomen. 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 Meropeidae, Meropeid larvae have been identified. The insect is characterized by long wings with many veins and no ocelli. 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 ... [...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. 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. 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 no ocelli. 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 cicada The cicadas () are a superfamily, the Cicadoidea, of insects in the order Hemipt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mecoptera
Mecoptera (from the Greek language, Greek: ''mecos'' = "long", ''ptera'' = "wings") is an Order (biology), order of insects in the superorder Holometabola with about six hundred species in nine Family (biology), 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 Rostrum (anatomy), 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 t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eomeropidae
Eomeropidae is a family (biology), family of aberrant, flattened scorpionflies represented today by only a single living species, ''Notiothauma reedi'', known from the ''Nothofagus'' forests in southern Chile, while all other recognized genera in the family are known only as fossils, with the earliest definitive fossil known from Early Jurassic, Liassic-aged strata, and the youngest from Paleogene-aged strata.Archibald, S. Bruce, Alexandr P. Rasnitsyn, and Mikhail A. Akhmetiev. "Ecology and distribution of Cenozoic Eomeropidae (Mecoptera), and a new species of ''Eomerope'' Cockerell from the Early Eocene McAbee locality, British Columbia, Canada." Annals of the Entomological Society of America 98.4 (2005): 503-514. Ecology ''Notiothauma'' adults are thought to be Saprotrophic nutrition, saprophagous with a preference for carrion, having been observed feeding on dead chickens and rabbits, though in one experimental study they were also observed feeding on plant material. Genera ... [...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 Holometabola with about six hundred species in nine Family (biology), families worldwide. Mecopterans a ..., 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] |
Living Fossil
A living fossil is a Deprecation, deprecated term for an extant taxon that phenotypically 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 punctuated equilibrium, 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 Morphology (biology), morphological changes. Scientific investigations have repeatedly discredited such claims. The minimal superficial changes to living foss ... [...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 Si ... [...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, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ..., 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 insects of Brazil {{Mecoptera-stub ... [...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, 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 rough, fibro ... 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] |
Bee-eaters
The bee-eaters are a group of birds in the family Meropidae, containing three genera and thirty-one 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 colonies, lar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cenomanian
The Cenomanian is, in the International Commission on Stratigraphy's (ICS) geological timescale, the oldest or earliest age (geology), age of the Late Cretaceous epoch (geology), Epoch or the lowest stage (stratigraphy), stage of the Upper Cretaceous series (stratigraphy), Series. An age is a unit of geochronology; it is a unit of time; the stage is a unit in the stratigraphic column deposited during the corresponding age. Both age and stage bear the same name. As a unit of geologic time measure, the Cenomanian Age spans the time between 100.5 and 93.9 million years ago (Mya). In the geologic timescale, it is preceded by the Albian and is followed by the Turonian. The Upper Cenomanian starts around at 95 Mya. The Cenomanian is coeval with the Woodbinian of the regional timescale of the Gulf of Mexico and the early part of the Eaglefordian of the regional timescale of the East Coast of the United States. At the end of the Cenomanian, an anoxic event took place, called the Cenomani ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
