ENY 3005 Family Identification
Mecoptera: Panorpidae
Pronunciation: pa-NOR-pi-dee
Common name: common scorpionflies
Mecopterans are elongate, soft-bodied insects of small to medium size.
Most species have 2 pair of elongate, membranous wings. Antennae are filiform
and about one-half the length of the body. The characteristic that best
identifies mecopterans is the elongated face in all but the family
Panorpodidae. Families are distinguished by characters of the wings and
legs.
Identifying characteristics for the family Panorpidae include:
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Bulbous male genitalia resembling the stinger of a scorpion.
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R2 forked so that the radial sector is 5-branched; media is 4-branched.
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Body generally yellowish brown, wings spotted or banded.
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Tarsi with 2 claws (cf. Bittacidae)
Panorpids are the most common of the scorpionflies in Florida. Occasionally
collected are species of Bittacidae, the hanging scorpionflies. This latter
family is distinguished from the Panorpidae by having wings narrower at
the base; the Rs and M veins each 4-branched; the tarsi having just 1 claw;
and the 5th tarsal segment often folded back on the 4th.
References:
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Pages 210-211 in D. J. Borror and R. E. White. 1970. A Field Guide to the
Insects. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.
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Page 482 in D. J. Borror, C. A. Triplehorn, and N. F. Johnson. 1989. An
Introduction to the Study of Insects, 6th ed. Philadelphia: Saunders College
Publishing. 875 p.
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Page 247 in R. G. Bland and H. E. Jaques. 1978. How to Know the Insects,
3rd ed. Dubuque, Iowa: Wm. C. Brown Co. 409 p.
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Page 489 in H. V. Daly, J. T. Doyen, and A. H. Purcell III. 1998. Introduction
to Insect Biology and Diversity, 2nd ed. Oxford University Press. 680 p.
Return to Mecoptera.
Return to ENY 3005 Index to Orders
Prepared by John L. Foltz,
University of Florida, Dept of Entomology & Nematology, 3 November 1998.
Modified 12 June 2001.