Hangingfly
Encyclopedia
Bittacidae is a family of scorpionflies
commonly called Hangingflies or hanging scorpionflies.
The genus Bittacus, comprising approximately 75 percent of all species within the family, occurs worldwide. Other genera are mostly confined to South America or Australia. Members of this family may be confused with crane flies
, in the order Diptera
, but can be distinguished by their two pairs of wings and lack of haltere.
Mecoptera
Mecoptera are an order of insects with about 550 species in nine families worldwide. Mecoptera are sometimes called scorpionflies after their largest family, Panorpidae, in which the males have enlarged genitals that look similar to the stinger of a scorpion...
commonly called Hangingflies or hanging scorpionflies.
The genus Bittacus, comprising approximately 75 percent of all species within the family, occurs worldwide. Other genera are mostly confined to South America or Australia. Members of this family may be confused with crane flies
Crane fly
A crane fly is an insect in the family Tipulidae. Adults are very slender, long-legged flies that may vary in length from though tropical species may exceed to ....
, in the order Diptera
Diptera
Diptera , or true flies, is the order of insects possessing only a single pair of wings on the mesothorax; the metathorax bears a pair of drumstick like structures called the halteres, the remnants of the hind wings. It is a large order, containing an estimated 240,000 species, although under half...
, but can be distinguished by their two pairs of wings and lack of haltere.
Genera
This list is based on The World Checklist of extant Mecoptera Species. Presumably complete up to 1997, it is updated as needed. The number of species in each genus are in parentheses. A number of extinct(†) genera have been described from the fossil record.- Anabittacus (1) Kimmins, 1929 (Chile)
- Anomalobittacus (1) Kimmins, 1928 (South Africa)
- Apterobittacus (1) MacLachlan, 1893 (Southern USA)
- Austrobittacus (1) Riek, 1954 (Australia)
- BittacusBittacusBittacus is a genus of hanging flies in the order Mecoptera. Members of the genus have a cosmopolitan distribution.-Characteristics:Members of this genus have long legs, the front pair of which are modified for grasping and are used to hang from vegetation. The other two pairs have tarsal claws and...
(124) Latreille, 1805 (worldwide) - Edriobittacus (1) Byers, 1974 (Australia)
- †FormosibittacusFormosibittacusFormosibittacus is an extinct genus of hangingfly in the family Bittacidae and containing a single species Formosibittacus macularis...
(1) Li, Ren & Shih, 2008 (Middle Jurassic, China) - Harpobittacus (12) Gerstaecker, 1885 (Australia)
- Hylobittacus (1) Byers, 1979 (USA, Mexico)
- Issikiella (5) Byers, 1972 (South America)
- †JurahylobittacusJurahylobittacusJurahylobittacus is an extinct genus of hangingfly in the family Bittacidae and containing a single species Jurahylobittacus astictus...
(1) Li, Ren & Shih, 2008 (Middle Jurassic, China) - Kalobittacus (8) Esben-Petersen, 1914 (Central America)
- †MongolbittacusMongolbittacusMongolbittacus is an extinct genus of hangingfly in the family Bittacidae and containing a single species Mongolbittacus daohugoensis...
(1) Petrulevicius, Huang & Ren, 2007 - Nannobittacus (4) Esben-Petersen, 1927 (Brazil to Panama)
- Neobittacus (2) Esben-Petersen, 1914 (Brazil)
- Orobittacus Villegas & Byers, 1982 (California)
- Pazius (8) Navás, 1913 (Brazil to Panama)
- Symbittacus Byers, 1986 (Australia)
- Tytthobittacus Smithers, 1973 (Australia)