Refine
Document Type
Language
- English (4)
Has Fulltext
- yes (4)
Is part of the Bibliography
- no (4)
Keywords
- Meropeids (1)
- SEM (1)
- biogeography (1)
- distribution (1)
- morphology (1)
- systematics (1)
- taxonomy (1)
Preliminary Checklist of the Mecoptera of Florida: Earwigflies, Hangingflies, and Scorpionflies
(2008)
We provide the first species checklist of Mecoptera indigenous to Florida, based upon preliminary data gathered primarily from specimens housed in the Florida State Collection of Arthropods. There are 11 described and one undescribed species of mecopterans, representing three families, inhabiting the state of Florida. These include the recently discovered meropeid (earwigfly), Merope tuber Newman, four species of bittacids (hangingflies), represented by the genus Bittacus Latreille, and 7 species (one undescribed) of panorpids (scorpionflies), represented by the genus Panorpa Linnaeus. We are not certain if one of these, Bittacus texanus Banks, is indigenous, represents a nonindigenous occurrence, or is simply erroneous. Two of the species on our list, Bittacus stigmaterus Say and Panorpa venosa Westwood, represent first state records and one species, Panorpa floridana Byers, is endemic. Six of the species which have been recorded in Florida, M. tuber, Bittacus punctiger Westwood, Panorpa rufa Gray, Panorpa pachymera Byers, Panorpa lugubris Swederus and P. venosa, represent the southernmost records for these species in the continental United States. Perceived diversity and abundance of mecopteran species in Florida are limited by climate, biogeography, and collection bias.
We provide new county records for four species of panorpids (Panorpa americana Swederus, Panorpa lugubris Swederus, Panorpa sp. undetermined, and one undescribed species from the Panorpa rufescens Rambur species group) and two species of bittacids (Bittacus pilicornis Westwood, Bittacus punctiger Westwood), and call attention to a previously published county record for another species, Panorpa rufa Gray, in Florida. Additionally, we reject a previously published record for the scorpionfly Panorpa claripennis Hine in Florida, which we overlooked in our 2008 preliminary checklist of Florida mecopterans. The record for P. lugubris in Miami-Dade County is the southernmost record for any panorpid in the continental United States.
We describe the rediscovery of the Florida scorpionfly, Panorpa floridana Byers (Mecoptera: Panorpidae), at Gold Head Branch State Park, Clay County, Florida, based upon a single, living, adult specimen photographed on 4 November 2010. The hardcopy photographic prints and electronic digital images of this panorpid are the first vouchers for P. floridana in 28 years, the only observation of a living specimen, and the sixth individual known of this seemingly rare Florida endemic.
We provide the current holdings of Meropeidae in the Florida State Collection of Arthropods (FSCA). To date, FSCA holds a well-curated collection of extant meropeids representing 17 U.S. states and Western Australia (n = 316 Merope tuber Newman, fi ve Austromerope poultoni Killington). Merope tuber records from Vermont, Texas, and South Carolina are published here for the fi rst time. A total of 298 pinned M. tuber and four pinned
A. poultoni; six M. tuber specimens preserved in 95% ethanol; and 12 M. tuber and one A. poultoni sputter-coated with gold-palladium for SEM are available for researchers interested in studying this unique family of insects.