Genus Bittacus

Classification · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · Season · Food · Life Cycle · Works Cited

hangingfly - Bittacus stigmaterus - male

long-legged Sacramento insect - Bittacus chlorostigma

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Mecoptera (Scorpionflies, Hangingflies, and Allies)

Family Bittacidae (Hangingflies)

Genus Bittacus

Explanation of Names

Bittacus Latreille 1805

Greek bittakos (βιττακος), later psittakos 'parrot' -- apparently for the long "beak"

Numbers

By far the largest genus of the family, with 8 spp. in our area and >120 worldwide (~50 in Africa, ~40 in Asia, 25 in C. & S. America, 2 in Europe, and 1 in Australia)(1)

Size

12-15 mm

Identification

Keys to spp. in(2)(3)

Range

Worldwide; in NA, more diverse in the east, with just one Pacific species (B. chlorostigma: OR-CA) and one restricted to KS-TX-NM (B. texanus); 5 spp. are widely distributed over e. US, B. occidentis west to AZ; B. strigosus northwest to MT; the rest reach areas west of the Mississippi to NE-TX), with three ranging into Canada (two along the se. border and one west to MB)(4)(2)

Habitat

Woodlands

Season

May-Oct in NC(5)

Food

Predatory on smaller insects, esp. dipterans.

Life Cycle

Eggs often laid on clumps of moss. Larvae resemble caterpillars, hunt for prey (and consume decaying matter?) there.

Works Cited

1.	Scorpionflies, hangingflies, and other Mecoptera Byers G.W. 2002. The Kansas School Naturalist 48(1).

2.	The Mecoptera, or scorpionflies, of Illinois Webb D.W., Penny N.D., Marlin J.C. 1975. Illinois Natural History Survey Bull. 31: 251–316.

3.	Mecoptera of Ontario Cheung D.K.B., Marshall S.A., Webb D.W. 2006. Canadian Journal of Arthropod Identification No. 1, 28.

4.	World checklist of extant Mecoptera species

5.	Insects of North Carolina C.S. Brimley. 1938. North Carolina Department of Agriculture.

Contributed by Cotinis on 21 December, 2004 - 11:29pm
Additional contributions by v belov
Last updated 22 March, 2018 - 7:52pm

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