Taxonomy And Fauna Analysis Of Mecoptera In The Nanling Mountains

The Nanling Mountains Region is an important geographical division between the southern subtropical and the median subtropical regions in south China,consisting of the Yuecheng,Dupang,Mengzhu,Qitian and Dayu Ridges,thus are also known as the Five Ridges.The Nanling Mountains Region is a famous diversity hotspot in the world,and contains rich biological resources,especially insect resources.Numerous species of Mecoptera are discoved from the Nanling Mountains,but the Mecoptera fauna of this region has not been systematically reviewed to date.In this thesis,we sorted out and observed the specimens in the Entomological Museum of Northwest A&F University.After two years of field expedition and specimen collection,the taxonomy and fauna analysis of Mecoptera in the Nanling Mountains are carried out comprehensively.The fauna types of Panorpidae and Bittacidae were sorted out,and the distribution characteristic of Mecoptera in the Nanling Mountains region is compared with that of the Qinling Mountains and Ziwuling Mountains.The results of taxonomy studies show that one species of Bicaubittacus,five species of Bittacus,13 species of Panorpa and 13 species of Neopanorpa are distributed in the Nanling Mountains.Five new species were discoveried in the Nanling Mountains Region and described detail,i.e.Bittacus huangsangensis sp.nov.,Neopanorpa nanshanensis sp.nov.,Panorpa muricata Li & Hua,2022,Panorpa filititilana Li & Hua,2022 and Panorpa yuechenglingensis Li & Hua,2022.The results of fauna analysis showed that most species of Mecoptera were mono-regional distribution and were mainly distributed in southern Hunan,northern Guangxi and Nanling mountainous regions.Only Neopanorpa hunanensis Hua,2002 was widely distributed in four regions.The results of multivariate similarity clustering analysis(MSCA)of the Nanling Mountains Region show that the similarity coefficient between Nanling mountainous region and southern Hunan mountainous region is the highest.When the similarity coefficient is 0.18,it can be divided into three parts: the eastern part of Nanling(Nanling mountainous region,southern Hunan mountainous region and southern Jiangxi hills),the western Hunan mountainous region(western Hunan mountainous region and central Hunan hills)and the northern Guangxi mountainous region.They are connected geographically.The comparison results of the Nanling,Qinling and Ziwuling Mountains Regions showed that all Mecoptera in the Nanling Mountains Region are endemic to the Oriental realm,and 15 species are endemic to the Nanling Mountains Region.Two species of the Ziwuling Mountains Region are Palaearctic realm species,and the other three species are widely distributed.Two species of the Qinling Mountains Region are Palaearctic realm species,two species are widely distributed,and the others are Oriental realm species or endemic to the Qinling Mountains Region.The species of Mecoptera in the Oriental realm is richer than those in the Palaearctic realm.