Genus Panorpa

Panorpa Linnaeus, 1758

SCORPIONFLIES: refers to the appearance of the male's 3-segmented terminal appendage, which is held in an upward recurved position, and the last segment is bulbous at the base and sharply pointed at the tip, like a scorpion's stinger (scorpionflies do not sting).

Panorpa: from the Greek "pan" (all) + "horpo", with alternate forms harpe, harpo, meaning a sickle or a bird of prey (Webster's New Universal Unabridged Dictionary, Deluxe Second Edition, 1983), see also Borror (1) for harpe. The above entry was likely based on The Century Dictionary (2), which says:

In its entry for Panorpa, The Oxford English Dictionary (1884-1928) does not speculate, but notes "derivation not given" after mentioning the original publication by Linnaeus. (Speculation: it seems more likely that pan in Panorpa refers to the Greek woodland God Pan, and not to pan = all. In support of this meaning, that is the origin of Pan, the genus of the Chimpanzee--see Wiktionary--Pan.)

At any rate, the derivation above likely refers to the sickle-shaped curve in the terminal appendage of males. An alternate reference is to the prominent (raptor-like, i.e., harpy-like) beak of these insects.

Arnett, p. 834, lists 39 species for North America. (3)

54 species listed at nearctica.com

all North American species in the family Panorpidae are placed in this genus

9-25 mm, typically circa 12 mm.

Adult: most species are tan with black-marked clear wings, held in swept-back position at rest, giving V-shaped profile viewed from above. Head with elongated rostrum ("beak"). Males have odd curled abdomen, held in an upward recurved position, and the last segment is bulbous at the base and sharply pointed at the tip, like a scorpion's stinger [scorpionflies do not sting], thus the common name "scorpionfly". Female abdomen tapers to slender tip, bearing two small finger-like cerci.

P. lugubris is a distinctive black and red species, perhaps a wasp mimic. P. nuptialis is dark brown to red, with red and black wings.

Other species have patterned wings that may be useful in identification (see example wing patterns of 12 species from Ontario)

Larva: resembles a caterpillar - head sclerotized (hardened); body nearly membranous, with setae (hairs) projecting from dorsal and lateral surfaces of abdominal segments; 3 pairs of conical thoracic legs; 8 pairs of smaller prolegs on first 8 abdominal segments

Eastern North America

also occurs throughout Eurasia and in Mexico

variable: low shrubs and ground cover in densely-vegetated woodlands, often near water or wet seeps; grasslands; cultivated fields; forest borders

adults are usually seen resting on leaves in shaded areas less than a metre from the ground

adults from May to September

Scavengers, mostly. Adults feed mainly on dead or moribund (dying) insects; rarely on nectar, fruits:

Larvae are scavengers, feeding on soft-bodied dead insects.

Eggs are laid in clusters in soil. Larvae resemble caterpillars, with four to eight sets of prolegs. They live in small burrows, come to surface to feed on decaying organic matter, also prey on soil insects. Larvae overwinter and pupate in underground cells.

Newly-hatched larvae feed for a month or more, passing through 4 instars, then prepare a cavity in the soil to enter a resting stage which lasts for about 5 weeks; larvae then enter the pupa stage, which lasts 2 or 3 weeks in species that become adults in late summer, or several months in species that overwinter and emerge as adults in the spring.

Mating behavior begins with the male offering some kind of food, such as a dead insect or, often, a short column of a brown salivary secretion that becomes gelatinous as it dries in the air. The male also emits a pheromone (an air-borne chemical signal) from vesicles within the enlarged ninth abdominal segment. A female is attracted to the pheromone or the food, whereupon the male grasps the end of her abdomen with the claw-like appendages on his genital segment (dististyles). He also clamps the costal (front) edge of one of the female's forewings in a structure on the mid-dorsal part of his abdominal segments 3 and 4 (the notal organ). Mating then takes place as the female feeds.

[adapted from description at Emporia U., Kansas]

Adults are said to "have a means of defense in emitting a disagreeable odor when molested" (2).

Borror, entries for pan, harpe (1)

The Century Dictionary, entry for Panorpa (2)

Arnett, p. 834, figs. 28.5--P. lugubris, 28.6--P. nuptialis (3)

Salsbury, p. 377--photos P. anomala, nuptialis (4)

Milne, p. 627, fig. 409 (5)

Swan and Papp, fig. 196 pp.188-189 (6)

Brimley, pp. 249-250 (7)

photos and keys to 13 species of Panorpa in Ontario (D.K.B. Cheung, S.A. Marshall, and D.W. Webb, Mecoptera of Ontario, courtesy U. of Alberta)

North Carolina State University Entomology lists a number of species for that state.

Insects of Quebec pinned photos of male and female P. galerita, based on wing patterns shown here

Insects of Cedar Creek

distribution of species throughout the world, listing states, provinces, countries for each species (California Academy of Sciences)

live adult image of male Panorpa species (Curt Williams, Texas A&M U.)

live adult image of male Panorpa species (Alex Wild, New York)

close-up image of male's terminal appendage in Panorpa subfasciata (U. of Minnesota)

close-up image of head and "beak" in Panorpa helena (U. of Minnesota)

good overview including description, habitat, behavior, food, mating ritual, and biology (George Byers, Emporia U., Kansas)

All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory has images of several labeled to species.