The Scorpion Fly (Panorpa Sp.) A brief introduction

[PeterD]

It is now getting cooler and insect life if now beginning its annual decline. There has been much that has surprised me when photographing invertebrates and shall provide some more picture story boards of some of these. This is a VERY brief introduction to the Scorpion Fly (Panorpa sp.).

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Despite the horrific name attached to these insects, they mainly eat dead animal matter or fruit. The common name is derived from the visual effect of the tip of the male abdomen curving up onto the top abdomen - scorpion like but without the sting


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The female has a much more conventional abdomen.


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The Scorpion fly prefers shady areas. It is not a True Fly (Order Diptera) but is a separate order Mecoptera as it has four wings and not two. The real distinguishing feature of this family in this order is the downward extension of the head to form a strong beak.


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The spotting on the wings varies between species with some not having any spots at all. It is very difficult to separate species and therefore I have only been able to identify these by their family name. There are about 400 known species world-wide with about 30 in Europe. The specimens photographed here are about 10mm long (body).


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Comments always welcome and thanks for viewing.

[Pops]

Re: The Scorpion Fly (Panorpa Sp.) A brief introduction

Excellent photographs Peter and interesting facts. Thanks for taking the time.
Hope you continue along this vein with other insects

[PeterD]

Re: The Scorpion Fly (Panorpa Sp.) A brief introduction

Excellent photographs Peter and interesting facts. Thanks for taking the time.
Hope you continue along this vein with other insects

Thank you Pops
When I first started out with the DSLR, I had always considered it a means to learning and not an end in itself. There are plenty of sites with great images out there and lots of sites with great detail. What I hope to achieve is to plug what I think is a missing gap. Keep it easy to read and use the images for illustration. I shall point to good sources (if known) when I post these picture story boards.