Kristensen [27] noted the character as potentially important for indicating whether an amphiesmenopteran of uncertain affinity was of the trichopteran lineage or not, but it is not a synapomorphy and is limited in its diagnostic use as it is homoplasious, having evolved separately in different lineages of Trichoptera, some
mecopterans (e.g., Bittacidae), and some basal Mecopterida (Microptysmatidae).
Flint Jr., "
Mecopteran (mecoptera: Bittacidae, meropeidae, panorpidae) flight periods, sex ratios, and habitat frequencies in a united states mid-atlantic freshwater tidal marsh, low forest, and their ecotone," Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society, vol.