Order Mecoptera - Scorpionflies
Family Panorpidae: Scorpionflies, hangingflies and allies
Live adult scorpionflies photographed in the wild at northern Illinois, USA.

Scorpionfly, Panorpa sp.
Male Scorpionfly, Panorpa sp.

Mecoptera (from the Greek: meco- = "long", -ptera = "wings") is an order of insects with about 550 species in nine families worldwide. Mecoptera are sometimes called scorpionflies after their largest family, Panorpidae, in which the males have enlarged genitals that look similar to the stinger of a scorpion. The Bittacidae, or hangingflies, are a prominent family of elongate insects known for their elaborate mating rituals, in which females choose mates based on the quality of gift prey offered by various males.

Recent DNA evidence[citation needed] indicates that fleas, which are traditionally considered an order as well (Order Siphonaptera), are instead highly specialized Mecoptera. Grouped together with the fleas, Mecoptera would have about 3000 species.

 

Female scorpionfly
Female scorpionfly

             
 
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