44 
Psyche 
[ March 
distributed over the holarctic regions, with a few represen- 
tatives in the Australian, Oriental, and Neotropical zones; 
Bittacidse, containing about 60 species, which occur in all 
parts of the world ; and Boreidse, with about a dozen species 
confined to parts of the Nearctic region and the western 
edge of the Palearctic. 
In a group of insects as primitive as the Mecoptera we 
should expect to find simple and uninteresting habits. But 
during the two hundred million years since the first appear- 
ance of the order in the lower Permian rocks, there has 
been ample time for the development of peculiar traits 
in habits, even though the insects have undergone few struc- 
tural changes. Unfortunately, nothing is known of the 
habits of Notiothauma and Merope, except that the latter 
is positively phototropic. Curiously enough, those habits 
of the other Mecoptera concerned with courtship and mat- 
ing show the highest development and diversity ; the court- 
ship of the Panorpidas involves peculiarities which have 
been found in few other groups of insects. The male Pan- 
orpa, on approaching the female, vibrates his wings rapidly 
and the female usually responds in like manner. Then the 
male stretches out his abdomen, seizes that of the female 
with his strong genital forceps, and then moves the forceps 
along until the female genitalia are reached. During copu- 
lation the bodies of the two insects diverge in the form of 
a “V.” Usually the insects remain in coitu /or a quarter 
of an hour or even an hour. Campion (1915) 3 observed 
a pair of P. germanica which started to mate at 11 :30 A. M. 
and continued all day; at night when several aphids were 
introduced into the box, the pair fed together, while still 
in copulation. Miyake (1913) has made some inter- 
esting observations on the mating habits of P. klugi: 
“One male is usually surrounded by two or three females 
which seem to the observer to be coquetting with the male. 
I saw on June 5th a pair in copulation beside two females. 
At last one of the two (I think the stronger one) began 
3 References not given here will be found in the bibliography of 
my revision of the Nearctic Mecoptera, now in press (Bull. Mus. 
Comp. Zool.). 
