"

37 Orders of Insects: Mecoptera

photo of a scorpionfly
A Scorpionfly, Harpobittacus australis, Morton National Park, NSW [Photo: John Tann, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons].

 

Cladogram with Mecoptera highlighted
Cladogram highlighting Mecoptera. Adapted from Gullan, PJ & Cranston PS (2014). The insects: an outline of entomology (5th ed.). Wiley Blackwell.

Order Mecoptera: Scorpion flies, hanging flies 

Mecoptera

  • common names: scorpion flies (refers to bulbous genitalia of males in the family Panorpidae curved over the abdomen–most common family–this family is not found in Australia) or hanging flies – most Australian species hang from vegetation by the fore- and sometimes the mid- legs
  • from Greek: meco = long, ptera = wings; refers to long wings
  • about 600 species worldwide–not common
  • hanging flies are predators, preying upon small, flying insects
  • larvae and adults generally omnivorous

Characteristics of Mecoptera

Adults

  • small to medium sized (up to 50mm)
  • elongated head with hypognathous rostrum and mandibulate mouthparts; filiform antennae
  • long, narrow fore and hind wings, similar in size that extend beyond abdomen; some species wingless
  • In Australian hanging flies, legs long and thin, with strong claws–catch prey with hind legs
  • copulation in some species involves elaborate courtship procedures; sometimes with nuptial feeding (male provides an insect meal prior as part of courtship)

Immatures

  • immature stages (larvae) mostly terrestrial,
  • heavily sclerotised head capsule
  • short, jointed thoracic legs
  • resemble lepidopteran caterpillars but without prolegs

Topic Review

Do you know…?

  • the main anatomical features of Mecoptera?

Licence

Icon for the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

Insect Science Copyright © 2025 by The University of Queensland is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

Share This Book