Meropeidae Temporal range: Middle Jurassic to Recent
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Merope tuber | |
Austromerope brasiliensis | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Mecoptera |
Family: | Meropeidae Handlirsch 1906 |
Genera | |
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Meropeidae is a family of tiny scorpionflies within the order Mecoptera with only three living species, commonly referred to as "earwigflies" (or sometimes "forcepflies"). These include the North American Merope tuber, the Western Australian Austromerope poultoni, and the recently discovered South American A. brasiliensis.[1] The biology of these species is essentially unknown, and their larvae have never been seen.[2] The disjunct distribution suggests a common origin before the breakup of the ancient supercontinent of Pangaea. Are several extinct genera. Boreomerope antiqua[3] uia known from an isolated wing found in the Middle Jurassic Itat Formation of Siberia and Burmomerope[4][5] with three species and Torvimerope with one species are both from the mid Cretaceous (Cenomanian) aged Burmese amber.[6] As such, the extant members of this family can be considered living fossils. These insects are also of interest due to their presumed basal position in the order Mecoptera. Thaumatomerope with four described species all from the Madygen Formation in Kyrgyzstan has historically sometimes been included within the family, it was placed into its own monotypic family, "Thaumatomeropidae." in 2002.[7]
The closest relatives of the family are thought to be Eomeropidae.[6] The family name was spelt "Meropidae" in old literature but this clashes with the homonymous family name in birds for bee-eaters. The spelling of Meropeidae was adopted for the insect family by the ICZN in Opinion 140 of 1943.[8]