Panorpodidae Explained

Panorpodidae should not be confused with Panorpidae.

The Panorpodidae are a small family of scorpionflies. Of the two genera, Brachypanorpa occurs only in the United States, and Panorpodes occurs in East Asia, with a single species in California. Unlike their sister group Panorpidae, the family generally has short jaws, amongst the shortest of all mecopterans. Brachypanorpa is thought to be phytophagous, consuming the epidermis of soft leaves, and a similar diet is suggested for Panorpodes.^[1]

Genera

The family contains extant 13 species in two genera:^[2]

• Brachypanorpa Carpenter, 1931 (five species: United States)
• Panorpodes MacLachlan, 1875 (eight species: Japan, Korea, California) Fossil species known from Eocene aged Baltic amber

In addition, the following fossil genus is also known:

• †Austropanorpodes Petrulevicius 2009 Laguna del Hunco Formation, Argentina, Eocene (Ypresian)

Notes and References

1. Ma . Na . Huang . Jing . Hua . Baozhen . 2013-03-22 . Hejnol . Andreas . Functional Morphology and Sexual Dimorphism of Mouthparts of the Short-Faced Scorpionfly Panorpodes kuandianensis (Mecoptera: Panorpodidae) . PLOS ONE . en . 8 . 3 . e60351 . 10.1371/journal.pone.0060351 . 1932-6203 . 3606246 . 23533677 . free .
2. Web site: Panorpodidae . World Checklist of extant Mecoptera species . April 3, 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20050408220336/http://www.calacademy.org/research/entomology/Entomology_Resources/mecoptera/panorpod.htm . April 8, 2005 . dead .