Three new species of Mecoptera (Insecta, Antliophora) from Yunnan, China
Abstract
The hangingflies (Bittacidae Handlirsch, 1906) and the scorpionflies (Panorpidae Latreille, 1802) are the two largest groups within the holometabolous order Mecoptera Packard, 1886. In this paper, a new hangingfly and two new scorpionflies are described: 1) Bittacus yunlongensis sp. nov., characterized by the greatly elongated and finger-shaped distal portion of male epandrial lobe, and greatly elongated upper and lower branches of proctiger; 2) Dicerapanorpa dajinhuang sp. nov., recognized mainly by the ventral branch of male parameres bearing small barbs on inner margin; and 3) D. jialiangjiei sp. nov., characterized by the bifurcated middle branch and sinuate distal portion of dorsal branch of male parameres. These new discoveries enrich the known species number of Bittacus Latreille, 1802 from one to two and Dicerapanorpa Zhong & Hua, 2013 from twelve to fourteen in Yunnan Province.
References
Bicha W.J. 2015. The scorpionflies (Mecoptera) of Indochina with the description of new species of Bittacus and Neopanorpa. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 117 (4): 435–451. https://doi.org/10.4289/0013-8797.117.4.435
Bicha W.J. 2018. Biodiversity of Mecoptera. Insect Biodiversity: Science and Society 2: 705–720. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118945582.ch23
Byers G.W. 1979. Hylobittacus, a new genus of North American Bittacidae (Mecoptera). Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 52 (2): 402–404.
Byers G.W. & Roggero R.J. 1992. Hanging-flies of Panama (Mecoptera: Bittacidae). In: Quintero D. & Aiello A. (eds) Insects of Panama and Mesoamerica: Selected Studies: 594–599. Oxford University Press, Oxford, USA. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198540182.003.0039
Byers G.W. & Thornhill R. 1983. Biology of the Mecoptera. Annual Review of Entomology 28: 203–228. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.en.28.010183.001223
Carpenter F.M. 1938. Mecoptera from China, with descriptions of new species. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 40 (9): 267–281. Available from https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/57052483 [accessed 3 Jun, 2025].
Chen J., Tan J.-L. & Hua B.-Z. 2013. Review of the Chinese Bittacus (Mecoptera: Bittacidae) with descriptions of three new species. Journal of Natural History 47: 1463–1480. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2012.763065
Du W. & Hua B.-Z. 2017. Two new species of the genus Terrobittacus Tan & Hua, 2009 (Mecoptera: Bittacidae) from southwestern China with a key to species. European Journal of Taxonomy 294: 1–13. https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2017.294
He L.-L. & Hua B.-Z. 2022. A review of Bittacidae (Mecoptera) in Guizhou, China with descriptions of three new species. European Journal of Taxonomy 839: 103–119. https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2022.839.1935
He L.-L. & Hua B.-Z. 2023. Two new species of the genus Terrobittacus Tan & Hua 2009 (Mecoptera, Bittacidae). ZooKeys 1148: 29–39. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1148.97997
He L.-L., Zhang J., Wu Y.-L. & Hua B.-Z. 2024. Three new species of Chinese Bittacidae (Mecoptera). Entomotaxonomia 46 (2): 1–10. https://doi.org/10.11680/entomotax.2024013
Hu G.-L. & Hua B.-Z. 2019. Two new species of the genus Dicerapanorpa (Mecoptera: Panorpidae) from Sichuan, China. Entomotaxonomia 41: 73–79. https://doi.org/10.11680/entomotax.2019010
Hu G.-L. & Hua B.-Z. 2020. Review of the scorpionfly genus Dicerapanorpa Zhong & Hua (Mecoptera: Panorpidae), with descriptions of two new species. European Journal of Taxonomy 711: 1–13. https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2020.711
Kaltenbach A. 1978. Mecoptera. Handbuch der Zoologie 4: 1–111.
Machado R.J.P., Mendes D.M.D.M. & Rafael J.A. 2018. The genus Bittacus Latreille (Insecta: Mecoptera) in Brazil: key to species, distribution maps, new synonym, and three new species. Zootaxa 4526 (3): 303–330. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4526.3.2
Midgley J.M. & Bellingan T.A. 2023. Notes on the Bittacus (Mecoptera, Bittacidae) of Mozambique, with the description of a new species. African Invertebrates 64 (2): 95–107. https://doi.org/10.3897/AfrInvertebr.64.85542
Myers N., Mittermeier R.A., Mittermeier C.G., da Fonseca G.A.B. & Kent J. 2000. Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities. Nature 403 (6772): 853–858. https://doi.org/10.1038/35002501
Nakamura T. & Bicha W. 2023. A new genus and eight new species of Japanese hangingflies (Mecoptera: Bittacidae). Japanese Journal of Systematic Entomology 29 (2): 297–315.
Palmer C.M. 2010. Diversity of feeding strategies in adult Mecoptera. Terrestrial Arthropod Reviews 3: 111–128. https://doi.org/10.1163/187498310x519716
Penny N.D. & Byers G.W. 1979. A check-list of the Mecoptera of the world. Acta Amazonica 9: 365–388. https://doi.org/10.1590/1809-43921979092365
Qian Z.-X. & Zhou W.-B. 2001. Three new species of Mecoptera from Yunnan. Journal of Zhejiang Forestry College 18: 297–300.
Savitsky V.Y. & Timokhov A.V. 2021. New data on the distribution of species of the genus Bittacus (Mecoptera, Bittacidae) in European Russia and Kazakhstan, with notes on their diagnoses. Zoologicheskii Zhurnal 100 (8): 885–896. https://doi.org/10.1134/s0013873821050067
Tan J.-L. & Hua B.-Z. 2009a. Bicaubittacus, a new genus of the Oriental Bittacidae (Mecoptera) with descriptions of two new species. Zootaxa 2221 (1): 27–40. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.2221.1.2
Tan J.-L. & Hua B.-Z. 2009b. Terrobittacus, a new genus of the Chinese Bittacidae (Mecoptera) with descriptions of two new species. Journal of Natural History 43 (45–48): 2937–2954. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222930903359628
Thornhill R. 1978. Sexually selected predatory and mating behavior of the hangingfly, Bittacus stigmaterus (Mecoptera: Bittacidae). Annals of the Entomological Society of America 71: 597–601. https://doi.org/10.1093/aesa/71.4.597
Wan T., Oaks J.R., Jiang X.-L., Huang H. & Knowles L.L. 2021. Differences in Quaternary co-divergence reveals community-wide diversification in the mountains of southwest China varied among species. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 288 (1942): 20202567. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2020.2567
Wang J.-S. 2021. Neopanorpa (Mecoptera: Panorpidae) from the Himalayas and adjacent regions, with descriptions of three new species. Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 61: 203–212. https://doi.org/10.37520/aemnp.2021.010
Wang J.-S. 2022. New and little-known species of the genus Dicerapanorpa from northwestern Yunnan, China (Mecoptera: Panorpidae). Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 62: 1–13. https://doi.org/10.37520/aemnp.2022.001
Wang J.-S. 2024. Taxonomy of the Panorpa semifasciata group (Mecoptera: Panorpidae: Panorpinae), with descriptions of fourteen new species from China. Annales de la Société entomologique de France (N.S.) 60 (3): 1–30. https://doi.org/10.1080/00379271.2024.2353087
Wang J.-S. & Hua B.-Z. 2017. An annotated checklist of the Chinese Mecoptera with description of male Panorpa guttata Navás, 1908. Entomotaxonomia 39: 24–42. https://doi.org/10.11680/entomotax.2017003
Wang J.-S. & Hua B.-Z. 2019. Megapanorpa, a new genus with a single anal horn in males from Oriental China (Mecoptera: Panorpidae). Entomological Science 22 (1): 64‒79. https://doi.org/10.1111/ens.12336
Wang J.-S. & Hua B.-Z. 2021. Morphological phylogeny of Panorpidae (Mecoptera: Panorpoidea). Systematic Entomology 46 (3): 526–557. https://doi.org/10.1111/syen.12474
Wang J.-S. & Hua B.-Z. 2022. A Color Atlas of the Chinese Mecoptera. Springer Nature Singapore, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-9558-2
Wang J.-S. & Zhao C.-J. 2024. Taxonomy of the Panorpa issikiana species group, with descriptions of twenty new species (Mecoptera: Panorpidae). Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 64 (1): 79–106. https://doi.org/10.37520/aemnp.2024.007
Wang M. & Hua B.-Z. 2018. High species diversity of the genus Neopanorpa (Mecoptera: Panorpidae) in Yunnan Province, China. Zootaxa 4483 (1): 36–66. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4483.1.2
Wei Z., Tong X., & Hua B.-Z. 2020. How does the male penisfilum enter the female copulatory pore in hangingflies?. Insects 11 (2): 123. https://doi.org/10.3390/insects11020123
Whiting M.F. 2002. Mecoptera is paraphyletic: multiple genes and phylogeny of Mecoptera and Siphonaptera. Zoologica Scripta 31 (1): 93–104. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.0300-3256.2001.00095.x
Willmann R. 2022. Neue Skorpionsfliegen (Mecoptera, Panorpidae) aus Nepal. Contributions to Entomology 72 (2): 309–320. https://doi.org/10.3897/contrib.entomol.72.e97277
Willmann R. 2024. Phylogeny and evolutionary history of Mavropanorpa n. gen. (Mecoptera: Panorpidae). Zoologischer Anzeiger 311: 69–87. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcz.2024.05.003
Yang Y., Tian K., Hao J., Pei S. & Yang Y. 2004. Biodiversity and biodiversity conservation in Yunnan, China. Biodiversity & Conservation 13: 813–826. https://doi.org/10.1023/b:bioc.0000011728.46362.3c
Yu T.-T., Chang Z., Dong Z.-W., Li K.-Q., Ma F.-Z., Wang W. & Li X.-Y. 2022. A glimpse into the biodiversity of insects in Yunnan: An updated and annotated checklist of butterflies (Lepidoptera, Papilionoidea). Zoological Research 43 (6): 1009. https://doi.org/10.24272/j.issn.2095-8137.2022.313
Zhong W. & Hua B.-Z. 2013. Dicerapanorpa, a new genus of East Asian Panorpidae (Insecta: Mecoptera: Panorpidae) with descriptions of two new species. Journal of Natural History 47 (13–14): 1019–1046. http://doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2012.752540
Zhong W., Ding G. & Hua, B.-Z. 2015. The role of male’s anal horns in copulation of a scorpionfly. Journal of Zoology 295 (3): 170–177. https://doi.org/10.1111/jzo.12194
Copyright (c) 2025 Jiao Xie, Ji-Shen Wang
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Creative Commons Copyright Notices
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0) that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are NOT PERMITTED to post their submitted work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on personal websites) prior to publication, as it may lead to nomenclatural issues.
