WORLD CHECKLIST OF EXTANT MECOPTERA SPECIES

Winter Scorpion-flies are very small (3 to 5 mm length) mecopterans which are adapted to boreal and high altitude environments. Larvae are scarabiform, forming cells amongst moss rhizoids, on which they feed. Most adult boreids feed on moss leaves, which the highly modified Caurinus dectes feeds on liverworts. Adults are active during the winter months in the more southern part of their distribution, mating and laying eggs amongst the mosses. Adults of Alaskan species are active during the Spring and Summer months. The greatest species diversity is to be found along the Pacific Coast of North America. Adults have adapted to the colder environment by becoming dark in color, presumably to better absorb the winter sunshine. They also have wings reduced to narrow straps in males and short, rounded stubs in females, presumably to reduce body surface area. Females also have an elongate, tubular ovipositor. They have the ability to hop, and some specialists think that they may share a direct ancestral link with fleas.

Boreus	beybienkoi		1962	Kyrghyzstan
Boreus	borealis	Banks	1923	U.S.A. (AK)
Boreus	brumalis	Fitch	1847	U.S.A. (DC, IL, MA, MI, MN, NY, OH, TN, VA, WS), Canada (PQ)
Boreus	californicus	Packard	1870	U.S.A. (AZ, CA, ID, MT, NV, OR, WA, WY), Canada (AB, BC)
= Boreus	unicolor	Hine	1901
= Boreus	isolatus	Carpenter	1935
= Boreus	californicus fuscus	Carpenter	1935
Boreus	chadzhigireji	Pliginsky	1914	Ukraine (Crimea)
Boreus	coloradensis	Byers	1955	U.S.A. (CO, MT, UT, WY)
Boreus	elegans	Carpenter	1935	U.S.A. (WA), Canada (BC)
Boreus	hyemalis	(Linnaeus)	1767	Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, France, Germany, Britain, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland
= Panorpa	hyemalis	Linnaeus	1767
= Gryllus	proboscideus	Panzer	1796
= Boreus	gigas	Brauer	1876
Boreus	intermedius	Lloyd	1934	U.S.A. (AK)
Boreus	jacutensis	Plutenko	1984	Russia
Boreus	jezoensis	Hori and Morimoto	1996	Japan
Boreus	kratochvili	Mayer	1938	Czechoslovakia
Boreus	lokayi	Klapálek	1901	Romania
Boreus	navasi	Pliginsky	1914	Ukraine (Crimea)
= Boreus	aktijari	Pliginsky	1914	Ukraine (Crimea)
Boreus	nivoriundus	Fitch	1847	U.S.A. (MA, ME, NH, NY, OH, TN, VT)
Boreus	nix	Carpenter	1935	U.S.A. (AK, MT), Canada (BC)
= Boreus	gracilis	Carpenter	1935
Boreus	orientalis	Martynova	1954	Far Eastern Russia
Boreus	pilosus	Carpenter	1935	U.S.A. (MT), Canada (AB, BC)
Boreus	reductus	Carpenter	1933	U.S.A. (ID, MT, NV, WA), Canada (BC)
Boreus	semenovi	Pliginsky	1930	Far Eastern Russia
Boreus	sjoestedti	Navás	1925	Far Eastern Russia (Kamtchatka Peninsula)
Boreus	tardokijanensis	Plutenko	1985	Russia
Boreus	vlasovi	Martynova	1954	Turkmenistan, Tadzhikistan
Boreus	westwoodi	Hagen	1866	Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Finland, Germany, Italy, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, European Russia
= Boreus	boldyrevi	Navás	1911
= Boreus	tarnanii	Navás	1911
Caurinus	dectes	Russell	1979	U.S.A. (OR)
Hesperoboreus	brevicaudus	(Byers)	1961	U.S.A. (OR, WA)
= Boreus	brevicaudus	Byers	1961
Hesperoboreus	notoperates	(Cooper)	1972	U.S.A. (CA)
= Boreus	notoperates	Cooper	1972

Last Update: 31 October 1997

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