Mecoptera {order} - Arthropoda; Insecta;

Mecoptera (from the Greek: mecos = "long", ptera = "wings") is an order of insects in the superorder Holometabola with about six hundred species in nine families worldwide. Mecopterans are sometimes called scorpionflies after their largest family, Panorpidae, in which the males have enlarged genitals raised over the body that look similar to the stingers of scorpions, and long beaklike rostra. The Bittacidae, or hangingflies, are another prominent family and are known for their elaborate mating rituals, in which females choose mates based on the quality of gift prey offered to them by the males. A smaller group is the snow scorpionflies, family Boreidae, adults of which are sometimes seen walking on snowfields. In contrast, the majority of species in the order inhabit moist environments in tropical locations. The Mecoptera are closely related to the Siphonaptera (fleas), and a little more distantly to the Diptera (true flies). They are somewhat fly-like in appearance, being small to medium-sized insects with long slender bodies and narrow membranous wings. Most breed in moist environments such as leaf litter or moss, and the eggs may not hatch until the wet season arrives. The larvae are caterpillar-like and mostly feed on vegetable matter, and the non-feeding pupae may pass through a diapause until weather conditions are favorable. Early Mecoptera may have played an important role in pollinating extinct species of gymnosperms before the evolution of other insect pollinators such as bees. Adults of modern species are overwhelmingly predators or consumers of dead organisms. In a few areas, some species are the first insects to arrive at a cadaver, making them useful in forensic entomology. full article at Wikipedia

Specimen Records:	4,050	Public Records:	2,288
Specimens with Sequences:	4,149	Public Species:	206
Specimens with Barcodes:	3,051	Public BINs:	306
Species:	287
Species With Barcodes:	212
Species List - Progress		Access Published & Released Data

Specimen Depositories:	Sequencing Labs:

Collected from 41 countries. Top 20: Show All Countries

China 1174 Costa Rica 38 Russia 13 United States 373 South Africa 23 Netherlands 12 Canada 343 Norway 22 Kenya 12 Austria 340 Georgia 19 Thailand 11 Germany 215 Ghana 16 Vietnam 10 Australia 61 Portugal 14 United Kingdom 9 Bulgaria 59 Tanzania 14