Genus Panorpa

Panorpa Linnaeus, 1758

(Speculation: pan in Panorpa refers more likely to the Greek woodland god Pan. In support of this meaning, that is the origin of Pan, the Chimpanzee genus (Pan.)

The most speciose group of Mecoptera, with 55 spp. north of Mexico and ca. 240 worldwide(3)

(19 spp. in NC(4), 10 in NH(5), 12 in ON(6), 9 in PQ(7))

body 9-25 mm, typically ca. 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

e. NA; the Nearctic portion of Mexico; throughout Eurasia(3)

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

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: the male offers some kind of food (a dead insect or a piece of a brown salivary secretion that becomes gelatinous as it dries) and emits a pheromone (an air-borne chemical signal) from vesicles within the abdominal segment 9. A female is attracted to the pheromone or the food, whereupon the male grasps the end of her abdomen with the claw-like genital appendages (dististyles) and clamps the 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.(8)

Adults may emit an unpleasant odor when molested(2)