Bittacus
Sign in to saveBittacus is a genus of hangingflies in the order Mecoptera. Members of the genus have a cosmopolitan distribution. The genus has existed since at least the earliest Late Cretaceous. Bittacus is considered "grossly paraphyletic" and serves as a catch-all for many distantly related species of hangingflies.
Taxonomy · GBIF
Thin Hangingfly
GENUS
- KingdomAnimalia
- PhylumArthropoda
- ClassInsecta
- OrderMecoptera
- FamilyBittacidae
Observations869
Groupinsecta
via GBIF · iNaturalist · CC0
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- taxon
- Parent taxon
- Hangingfly
- Image
- Bittacus strigosus -- Hangingfly.JPG
Show 2 more facts
- P105
- genus
via Wikidata · CC0
Article
4 sectionsContents
- Characteristics
- Species
- Extinct species
- References
Bittacus is a genus of hangingflies in the order Mecoptera. Members of the genus have a cosmopolitan distribution. The genus has existed since at least the earliest Late Cretaceous. Bittacus is considered "grossly paraphyletic" and serves as a catch-all for many distantly related species of hangingflies.
==Characteristics== Members of this genus have long legs, the front pair of which are modified for grasping and are used to hang from vegetation. The other two pairs have tarsal claws and are modified for catching prey. There are two pairs of equal sized, membranous wings with dark mottling. The mouthparts are modified for chewing. The insects superficially resemble crane flies.