Talk:Mecoptera/GA1

GA Review

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Reviewer: FunkMonk (talk · contribs) 18:01, 15 March 2017 (UTC)

• Hi, I'll review this. Strange creatures, I remember finding one with a large "tail" as a kid, and thinking I had found an unknown species... FunkMonk (talk) 18:01, 15 March 2017 (UTC)

Many thanks, and great to hear the enthusiasm! Chiswick Chap (talk) 18:09, 15 March 2017 (UTC)

• I'm unsure about the two galleries, per WP:galleries. Considering the giant amount of empty white space next to the cladograms, for example, it would seem you could easily spread the best ones (many of them seem repetitive) out in the article.

I've used one of the galleries to populate the cladogram with small images. I think the other one on fossils makes sense only in the context of the fossil section, so I suggest we leave it there. Chiswick Chap (talk) 18:20, 15 March 2017 (UTC)

I'm still not sure why the remaining gallery is necessary. Three similar photos of a single fossil wing? Seems you could keep the reconstruction and one of the complete specimens, and the same would be conveyed, just without the repetition. FunkMonk (talk) 00:11, 16 March 2017 (UTC)

The images are from different periods and different continents. I've removed one of the Jurassic, China and two of the Eocene, Washington State images.

• Nothing on taxonomic history? Who named the group? Synonyms? Historical changes in classification?

Started with Linnaeus; group named by Hyatt & Arms 1891. No synonyms that I can find. See 'Internal relationships' item below.

• "The Mecoptera's crown group" Why genitives? Also, crown group should be linked, and could be briefly explained, if possible.

Gone, see next.

• To the aforementioned crown group sentence, if you mean these are the first known member sof the group, it could be stated much clearer if most readers are to understand this.

Done.

• "based on a 2008 analysis of four loci (18S and 28S ribosomal DNA, cytochrome oxidase II, and elongation factor 1-alpha)" I think you cna just say "a 2008 genetic study", the current text is overly technical

OK, DNA and protein analysis it is.

• "The Boreidae (snow scorpionflies) are seen to be the sister clade to the Siphonaptera, so the Mecoptera as traditionally understood was paraphyletic" Why change in tense?

Switched to the present.

• "are all monophyletic" Why is this important to note? It is assumed to be the case, unless otherwise stated.

Removed.

• "The relationships of the families are however unclear." Either say "interrelationships" or "relationships between the families".

Done.

• "The informal cladogram" What makes it "informal"?

Removed.

• "places the Nannochoristidae as a separate order, with the Boreidae, sister to the Siphonaptera, also as its own order." This seems to contradict what the article states elsewhere. If Boreidae and Nannochoristidae do not belong in Mecoptera, you must either explain that there is some sort of controversy, or change the article accordingly, so that they are not within the scope.

Said the Nannochoristidae and Boreidae were once seen as part of Mecoptera, so they are part of the historic scope; and that the relationships are a matter of debate.

• "(by the entomologist Natalie Lindgren) at the Southeast Texas Applied Forensic Science Facility near Huntsville, Texas" Is all this really relevant here?

Removed.

More

• There are quite a few unfamiliar terms under Morphology that could need in-text explanation. Also to a lesser degree in the rest of the Biology section.

Wikilinked and glossed several.

• "or a brown salivary secretion to the female" What can the female use this for?

Added that it's edible.

• "prey between 3 and 14mm long" Needs conversions.

Done.

• No photos of eggs or larvae? The hanglfy image seems to have nothing to do with mating, other than its caption.

Photos would be nice, but we don't have any on Commons. The hangingfly image is what's available.

• "(from the Greek: mecos = "long", ptera = "wings") " This should be stated under taxonopmy as well.

Done.

• "in the superorder Endopterygota" Only stated in intro.

Also in the cladogram.

• "Mecopterans are sometimes called scorpionflies after their largest family, Panorpidae, in which the males have enlarged genitals that look similar to the stingers of scorpions." Only stated in intro.

Added.

• "before the evolution of other insect groups" Only stated in intro, also seems dubious, unless you specify which other insect groups we're talking about.

Moved ref out of lead; pollination is discussed in the Fossil history section, and mentioned bees.

• Their long rostra could be mentioned in the intro.

Done.

• The article looks solid to me now, so will go ahead and pass. FunkMonk (talk) 23:36, 17 March 2017 (UTC)

Many thanks as always. Chiswick Chap (talk) 08:45, 18 March 2017 (UTC)