The Hunt for Merope tuber...
Our ever-elusive mascot, Merope tuber
Merope tuber is one of only two species in the small family Meropeidae, which belongs to the order Mecoptera (scorpionflies and their allies). It is our only native representative of this family and is known to occur throughout the eastern United States, including Central New York (the other species, Austalomerope poultoni, is found exclusively in Australia). They are generally rare and secretive insects, but adult specimens are still occassionally collected near streams or at blacklight traps. However, Meropeid larvae have never been found or identified. We at Snodgrass and Wigglesworth, therefore, have adopted Merope tuber as our official mascot and made it our mission to locate and describe the larval stage of Merope, as this would be a valuable contribution to the annals of entomology.
After nearly 7 years of searching, the larvae of Merope tuber still remain elusive. However, in October of 2007, Snodwiggs member Keith Ciccaglione found a large adult male in his yard, about an hour north of New York City. This find brings hope that the discovery of the larvae is not far off. The hunt is still on... possibly in Keith's backyard!
How to Identify Merope tuber
Merope tuber is a small, brown insect that is about 10-12mm long. It is often called the "earwig fly" because adult males have long, pincer-like claspers on the end of their abdomens that resemble the cerci of earwigs. While the function of these structures is unknown, it is likely that they are somehow used in courtship or mating. Females look identical to the males, but they lack these claspers. Adults tend to be found on or under logs and rocks, especially near stream banks and other bodies of water.
The habitat of the larvae is not known, but it is likely that they are found in these same areas. Snodwigg members recommend looking under bark and in leaf litter by stream banks for the larvae. Since the larvae of Mecopteran families are incredibly diverse, so we do not know exactly what a larval Merope would look like, but here are some pictures of adults and the larvae of other Mecopterans (click for larger versions).
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Our logo, featuring an adult male Merope tuber as drawn by Snodwiggs graduate Adam Bell. |
An adult male Merope tuber as seen from above. |
An adult male Merope tuber as seen from underneath. Note the unique terminal claspers. |
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An adult specimen of Merope tuber would be an uncommon and lucky find on a blacklighting trip. |
An adult female Merope tuber, showing her lack of terminal claspers |
Merope larvae might look a bit like these Panorpid (scorpionfly) larvae. |