Apteropanorpa

Taxobox
name = "Apteropanorpa tasmanica"
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Arthropoda
classis = Insecta
ordo = Mecoptera
familia = Apteropanorpidae
genus = "Apteropanorpa"
genus_authority = Carpenter, 1941
species = "A. tasmanica"
binomial = "Apteropanorpa tasmanica"
binomial_authority = Carpenter, 1941

Apteropanorpidae is a family of wingless scorpionflies containing the single species "Apteropanorpa tasmanica". This species, also called the "Tasmanian snow scorpionfly" is found in moss in Tasmania and southern Australia. The adults are generalised predators. The larvae live in moss and are locally common.

"A. tasmanica" is probably an austral ecological counterpart of the Northern Hemisphere Boreidae, adapting to colder climates by losing its wings and feeding on the abundant understory mosses. Both groups have been collected on snow and at high elevations. However, these two groups are probably not sister groups, as males of "Apteropanorpa tasmanica" have developed the bulbous, recurved abdomen found in advanced families, such as Panorpidae.

Name

The genus name is derived from Panorpidae, a related family, and Ancient Greek "apteros" "wingless".

ee also

* Snow scorpionfly (Boreidae), another family of scorpionflies with reduced or no wings