Habitat and Behavior

Where They Live: The Merope tuber lives in low vegetation or on the ground in densely-vegetated woodlands, often near water or wet seeps (similar to scorpionfly habitat) (Grzimek 2004)

This might be a place where the Merope tuber would live

Where they live: The Merope tuber are unique to North America and have been seen in the eastern part of the continent from Ontario until Georgia. (Arnett 1985)

What are their  feeding habits?: Experiment was done in which six swine carcasses were placed in a Midwest temperate forest. They were left for two days with glue traps by each of the carcasses. At the end of this forty-eight hour period, Merope tuber specimens were collected in glue traps by four of the six swine carcasses. This is not hard evidence of the Merope tuber's feeding habits, but does suggest that they may feed on carrion.(Pechal 2011)

What do they act like?: Adults are secretive and inactive, frequently found resting on the surface of leaves in dense shade.  (McLeod 2005)They are nocturnal and typically seek shelter under rocks or logs during the daytime. The Enigmatic Merope Tuber :: Snodgrass and Wigglesworth(Pechal 2011)

What else do they do?: The Merope tuber is characterized by long wings with many veins and have no ocelli. The lack of ocelli is not detrimental to the success of the Merope tuber, because they are nocturnal organisms, active only in the dark. There is a region of interlocking sclerites that holds the jugum and scutellum on the middle thoracic segment together. This may be used to keep the wings together when pushing up through dirt in which they live. (Grzimek 2004)

The dorsal side of a Merope tuber