Apteropanorpidae is a
family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
of wingless
scorpionflies containing a single genus, ''Apteropanorpa'', with four named species, which are all endemic to the Australian island of
Tasmania
Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...
. Of the four known species, three occupy alpine habitats while ''A''. ''warra'' occupies lower elevations.
Mature individuals inhabit vegetation.
Adults are scavengers, feeding on dead and occasionally dying invertebrates, inserting their mouthparts into pre-existing holes in the body cavity to consume internal soft parts, very occasionally consuming the entire exoskeleton if present. Adults are startled and will run away at any sign of movement from prey. The larvae are not known with certainty, though probable larvae have been recorded from moss.
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]
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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 classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...
''apteros'' "wingless".
See also
* Snow scorpionfly (Boreidae), another family of scorpionflies with reduced or no wings
References
Mecoptera
Monogeneric insect families
{{Mecoptera-stub