Editing Mecoptera (section)

{{short description|Order of insects with markedly different larvae and adults}}
{{good article}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = {{fossilrange|299|0|[[Permian|Early Permian]] - Recent}}
| image = Skorpionsfliege Panorpa communis male full (cropped).jpg
| image_caption = ''[[Panorpa communis]]'', male
| taxon = Mecoptera
| authority = [[Alpheus Spring Packard|Packard]], 1886<br>[[John Henry Comstock|Comstock]], 1895
| subdivision_ranks = Families
| subdivision = 
* [[Apteropanorpidae]]
* [[Boreidae]] (snow scorpionflies)
* [[Choristidae]]
* †[[Choristopsychidae]]<ref name="Qiao2013">{{cite journal |last1=Qiao |first1=X. |last2=Shih |first2=C. K. |last3=Petrulevičius |first3=J. F. |last4=Dong |first4=R. |year=2013 |title=Fossils from the Middle Jurassic of China shed light on morphology of Choristopsychidae (Insecta, Mecoptera) |journal=ZooKeys |issue=318 |pages=91–111 |doi=10.3897/zookeys.318.5226|pmid=23950679 |pmc=3744206 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2013ZooK..318...91Q }}</ref>
* †[[Englathaumatidae]]<ref name="Novokshonov2016">{{cite journal |last1=Novokshonov |first1=V. G. |last2=Ross |first2=A. J. |last3=Cook |first3=E. |last4=Krzemiński, W. |last5=Soszyńska-Maj |first5=A. |year=2016 |title=A new family of scorpionflies (Insecta; Mecoptera) from the Lower Cretaceous of England |journal=Cretaceous Research |volume=62 |pages=44–51 |doi=10.1016/j.cretres.2016.01.013|bibcode=2016CrRes..62...44N }}</ref>
* [[Eomeropidae]]
* [[Meropeidae]] (earwigflies)
*†[[Permochoristidae]]<ref name="Bashkuev2011"/>
*†Mesopsychoidea (=Aneuretopsychina)
**†[[Aneuretopsychidae]]<ref name="Bashkuev2011"/>
**†[[Mesopsychidae]]<ref name="Lin2016">{{cite journal |last1=Lin |first1=X. |last2=Shih |first2=M. J. |last3=Labandeira |first3=C. C. |last4=Ren |first4=D. |year=2016 |title=New data from the Middle Jurassic of China shed light on the phylogeny and origin of the proboscis in the Mesopsychidae (Insecta: Mecoptera) |journal=BMC Evolutionary Biology |volume=16 |issue=1 |pages=1–22 |doi=10.1186/s12862-015-0575-y|pmid=26727998 |pmc=4700641 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2016BMCEE..16....1L }}</ref>
**†[[Nedubroviidae]]<ref name="Bashkuev2011">{{cite journal |last1=Bashkuev |first1=A.S. |s2cid=83075922 |year=2011 |title=Nedubroviidae, a new family of Mecoptera: the first Paleozoic long-proboscid scorpionflies |journal=Zootaxa |volume=2895 |issue=1 |pages=47–57 |doi=10.11646/zootaxa.2895.1.3}}</ref>
**†[[Pseudopolycentropodidae]]<ref name="Grimaldi2014">{{cite journal |last1=Grimaldi |first1=D. |last2=Johnston |first2=M. A. |year=2014 |title=The long-tongued Cretaceous scorpionfly ''Parapolycentropus'' Grimaldi and Rasnitsyn (Mecoptera: Pseudopolycentropodidae): new data and interpretations |journal=American Museum Novitates |issue=3793 |pages=1–24 |doi=10.1206/3793.1|hdl=2246/6466 |s2cid=54799375 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/273012 }}</ref>
* [[Nannochoristidae]]
* [[Siphonaptera]]? (fleas)
* [[Pistillifera]]
** [[Panorpoidea]]
***†[[Australochoristidae]]<ref name="Krzemiński2015">{{cite journal |last1=Krzemiński |first1=W. |last2=Soszyńska-Maj |first2=A. |last3=Bashkuev |first3=A. S. |last4=Kopeć |first4=K |year=2015 |title=Revision of the unique Early Cretaceous Mecoptera from Koonwarra (Australia) with description of a new genus and family |journal=Cretaceous Research |volume=52 |pages=501–506 |doi=10.1016/j.cretres.2014.04.004|bibcode=2015CrRes..52..501K }}</ref>
***†[[Austropanorpidae]]
***†[[Cantabridae]]
***†[[Dinopanorpidae]]<ref name="Dinopanorpidae">{{cite journal |author=Archibald, S.B. |s2cid= 55513480 |title= New Dinopanorpida (Insecta: Mecoptera) from the Eocene Okanogan Highlands (British Columbia, Canada and Washington State, USA) |year=2005| journal = [[Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences]] |volume = 42 | issue = 2| pages =119–136 |doi= 10.1139/e04-073|bibcode= 2005CaJES..42..119A }}</ref>
***†[[Eorpidae]]
***†[[Holcorpidae]]
***†[[Orthophlebiidae]]
***[[Panorpidae]] (common scorpionflies)
***[[Panorpodidae]] (short-faced scorpionflies)
***†[[Protorthophlebiidae]]
***†[[Worcestobiidae]]
**[[Raptipedia]]
***[[Bittacidae]] (hangingflies)
***†[[Cimbrophlebiidae]]<ref name="Wang2014">{{cite journal |last1=Wang |first1=C. |last2=Shih |first2=C. |last3=Ren |first3=D |year=2014 |title=A new fossil hangingfly (Mecoptera: Cimbrophlebiidae) from the Early Cretaceous of China |journal=Acta Geologica Sinica (English Edition) |volume=88 |issue=1 |pages=29–34 |doi=10.1111/1755-6724.12180|bibcode=2014AcGlS..88...29W |s2cid=129796533 }}</ref>
}}

'''Mecoptera''' (from the [[Greek language|Greek]]: ''mecos'' = "long", ''ptera'' = "wings") is an [[Order (biology)|order]] of [[insect]]s in the superorder [[Holometabola]] with about six hundred species in nine [[Family (biology)|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 [[scorpion]]s, and long beaklike [[Rostrum (anatomy)|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 [[gymnosperm]]s 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]].<ref name=STAFS>{{cite web |title=Southeast Texas Applied Forensic Science Facility |url=http://www.shsu.edu/~stafs/ |publisher=STAFS}}</ref>