| Winter scorpionflies | |
|---|---|
 | |
| B. westwoodi female | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Mecoptera |
| Family: | Boreidae |
| Genus: | Boreus Latreille, 1816 |
Boreus is the most diverse of three genera of insects in the family Boreidae. They are commonly known as winter scorpionflies due to their close relation to the true scorpionflies and preference for cold habitats.
Species of Boreus are dark in color, 3 to 5 mm long, and have reduced, non-functional wings. In males, the wings resemble straps, while in females they are short stubs. Females also have a pointed ovipositor. Both sexes have an elongated head, or rostrum. Larvae are grublike, mostly hairless and lacking prolegs.
They have a holarctic distribution and are found in boreal and high altitude habitats. [1]
Boreus species are highly adapted to cold environments and often found on the surface of snow. Although they cannot fly, they have the ability to hop or jump. All species are known to feed on mosses, both as adults and larvae. Males use their hardened wing straps to grasp the female and lift her above their back during mating. [2]
These 27 species belong to the genus Boreus:
Data sources: i = ITIS, [3] c = Catalogue of Life, [4] g = GBIF, [5] b = Bugguide.net [6]
Mecoptera 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.
Hybosoridae, sometimes known as the scavenger scarab beetles, is a family of scarabaeiform beetles. The 690 species in 97 genera occur widely in the tropics, but little is known of their biology.
Apteropanorpidae is a family of wingless scorpionflies containing a single genus, Apteropanorpa, with four named species. These species, also called Tasmanian snow scorpionflies, are found in moss in Tasmania and southern Australia. The adults are generalised predators. The larvae live in moss and are locally common.
Chaoboridae, commonly known as phantom midges or glassworms, is a family of fairly common midges with a cosmopolitan distribution. They are closely related to the Corethrellidae and Chironomidae; the adults are differentiated through peculiarities in wing venation.
Boreidae, commonly called snow scorpionflies, or in the British Isles, snow fleas are a very small family of scorpionflies, containing only around 30 species, all of which are boreal or high-altitude species in the Northern Hemisphere.
The Mydidae, or Mydas flies, are a cosmopolitan family of flies. It is a small family, with about 471 species described. They are generally large in size, including the largest known fly, Gauromydas heros. Many of the species, in addition to their large size, are mimics of stinging hymenopterans, especially wasps. Most mydids are found in arid and semiarid regions of the world, but they are also found in other habitats.
The family Leptoceridae are a family of caddisflies often called "long-horned caddisflies" or "silverhorns". Leptoceridae is the second largest family of caddisflies with over 1850 species in approximately 68 genera. The main identifying feature of most Leptoceridae is that their antennae are much longer than those of other caddisflies. There is one genus with relatively short antennae (Ceraclea), but it is easily identified by the pair of dark curved lines on the mesonotum.
The Perilampidae are a small family within the Chalcidoidea, composed mostly of hyperparasitoids. The family is closely related to the Eucharitidae, Chrysolampidae, and Eutrichosomatidae. As presently defined, six genera are described worldwide. They are often brilliantly metallic, with robust mesosomae and a small, triangular metasomae. They are generally very strongly sculptured. The prothorax is typically very broad and disc-like, and the labrum is multidigitate, a feature shared with the Eucharitidae.
Cryptophagidae is a family of beetles with representatives found in all biogeographic realms. Members of this family are commonly called silken fungus beetles and both adults and larvae appear to feed exclusively on fungi although in a wide variety of habitats and situations, such as rotting wood and shed animal fur and feathers. These beetles vary from about 1 to 11 millimeters long, and usually have an oval body shape with a slight "waist".
The family Corydalidae contains the megalopterous insects known as dobsonflies and fishflies. Making up about three dozen genera, they occur primarily throughout North America, both temperate and tropical, South America, Australia, New Zealand, Africa and Asia.
Tomarus is a genus of scarab beetles in the subfamily Dynastinae, the rhinoceros beetles. They are native to the Americas, where they are distributed from the central United States to Argentina, and a few species occur in the Caribbean.
The Lycidae are a family in the beetle order Coleoptera, members of which are commonly called net-winged beetles. These beetles are cosmopolitan, being found in Nearctic, Palearctic, Neotropical, Afrotropical, Oriental, and Australian ecoregions.
Panorpa communis, the common scorpionfly, is a species of scorpionfly.
Poecilanthrax is a large, primarily Nearctic genus of flies belonging to the family Bombyliidae (bee-flies).
Hypogastruridae is a family of springtails. Members of the family are common and widespread with a cosmopolitan distribution of about 660 species in about 40 genera.
Gastrophysa is a genus of beetles in the family Chrysomelidae, in which the females typically exhibit swollen, membranous abdomens, a condition known as physogastrism.
Beetles of the genus Helichus are found worldwide apart from in Australia and Antarctica. Adults reach 1–8 millimetres (0.04–0.31 in) long and live in aquatic or riparian environments. The larvae are land-dwelling which may be unique in water living insects.
Brachycentridae is a family of humpless casemaker caddisflies in the order Trichoptera. It is found in North America, Europe, and Asia. Georg Ulmer first described it in Germany in 1903 as a subfamily of Sericostomatidae. The type genus for Brachycentridae is Brachycentrus J. Curtis, 1834.
Boreus hyemalis is an insect, 3 to 4.5 millimetres long from the family of Boreidae. Its common name is snow scorpionfly, also known in Britain as the snow flea.
The Rogadinae are a large subfamily of braconid parasitoid wasps. Several Rogadinae species parasitize pest caterpillars and are important for naturally occurring biological control.