#Scorpionflies
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thedawner.bsky.social
Scorpionflies are now some of my favorite bugs.
#art #furry
October 22, 2024 at 6:45 PM
crevicedwelling.bsky.social
having never lived in an area with scorpionflies, I am very much enjoying having not just one but 5+ species on the wing at the moment! this orange sp. is the most common currently
my hand holds a scorpionfly, an orange insect with long black-banded wings held in a triangle over the pointy abdomen some tall grass in a field edge. three orange scorpionflies are half hidden
May 10, 2026 at 4:43 AM
vc40orthops.bsky.social
Its that time of year again: a male Snow Flea, one of 3 seen yesterday in woodland on the Shrops/Herefords border. These 4mm relatives of Scorpionflies live in moss (esp. Polytrichum & relatives) & are winter active as adults. Not fleas of course but they can jump a bit.
A Snow Flea - a small, long-legged insect with a very long face (like its relatives the scorpionflies). An overall dark, bronzy colour with yellow & orange highlights.
November 27, 2025 at 3:32 PM
mossworm.bsky.social
One of the world's largest (maybe THE largest? can't remember) collections of scorpionflies is across the street, it's like 12 standard size boxes
May 6, 2025 at 10:30 PM
apsciencebylyn.bsky.social
Fun fact: scorpionflies are likely more closely related to fleas than flies

(those pinchy tails are used for love, not war. Only males have them)
apsciencebylyn.bsky.social Evelyndroid's Aperture Science and Bugge-Finding 🏳️‍⚧️🕷️ @apsciencebylyn.bsky.social · Nov 12
Came across 3 silly Mourning Scorpionflies (Panorpa lugubris) this evening, which made me very happy.
The annual appearance of these Snootflies in the fall is a state holiday, I'm pretty sure
Handsome black fly like creature with a long scorpion-like red tail, which he's exposing by spreading his black wings. His face possesses a long snoot Another male of the species, also showing his pinchy tail Male, with pinchy tail hidden under his folded black wings One of the creatures, peering at you over a pair of leaves
November 12, 2024 at 4:44 AM
skeeterpond.bsky.social
Do y'all like scorpionflies
Flying scorpion type of bug s... It's on a bone
October 28, 2025 at 2:12 AM
tetzoo.bsky.social
Turns out that one of my favourite groups of insects live on my local patch, something I only just discovered today. Scorpionflies! This one is something like the fourth scorpionfly I've seen this year.
Female scorpionfly on a bramble leaf.
September 12, 2026 at 6:58 PM
arthropoda-curator.bsky.social
Can never decide whether it’s cooler that fleas are parasitic scorpionflies or that termites are eusocial cockroaches.
March 12, 2025 at 11:07 AM
applewildlife.bsky.social
Chuffed to bits to see Snow Fleas (Boreus hyemalis) today at Felbrigg. Huge thanks to @vannabartlett.bsky.social for finding them previously and providing directions and to @caryocatactes.bsky.social for spotting them first today - I hadn’t appreciated how tiny they would be! #UKInverts #SnowFlea
Male Snow Flea on a dead leaf among moss on a tree stump. A tiny insect related to scorpionflies rather than fleas, with a downward-pointing beak like scorpionflies, but with short spine-like modified wings. Another male Snow Flea in side view. Dorsal view of a male Snow Flea.
February 24, 2026 at 10:31 PM
dudefromearth.bsky.social
11-16-24
Nuptial Scorpionfly
(Panorpa nuptialis)
Lick Creek Park
College Station, TX

#tx #texas #nature #nikon #nikond7500 #photography #naturephotography #wildlifephotography #Wildlife #arthropods #entomology #Mecoptera #Scorpionflies #NuptialScorpionfly #Panorpidae #Panorpinae #Panorpa
March 1, 2025 at 11:12 PM
mintakamoth.bsky.social
of wasps, bees, ants, moths, crickets, earwigs, silverfish, alderflies, caddisflies, mayflies, fishflies, dobsonflies, snakeflies, stoneflies, lacewings, scorpionflies, aphids, treehoppers, leafhoppers, planthoppers, grasshoppers, angel insects, webspinners, ice crawlers, strepsipterans
June 8, 2026 at 9:14 AM
jillwhitelock.bsky.social
Male and female Scorpionflies. From James Barbut’s ‘The genera insectorum of Linnæus …’ (London, 1781). S391.b.78.13 @theul.bsky.social #EntHist #Diptera
Hand-coloured printed illustration of a male and female Scorpionfly.
November 3, 2025 at 8:38 PM
apsciencebylyn.bsky.social
Snootflies* from North Carolina!

(scorpionflies, but one can see why I chose the other moniker) 🧪
June 28, 2023 at 12:45 AM
ketrinadrawsalot.bsky.social
Insects diversified rapidly during the Permian, bringing about the early ancestors of odonates (dragonflies and damselflies) as well as scorpionflies and beetles.

#insect #bug #prehistoric #meganeuropsis #meganisoptera #bigbug #education #art
A Meganeuropsis permiana, the ancient ancestor of dragonflies. It has a 71 centimeter wingspan, spiky legs for grabbing prey, and simpler vein pattern than modern odonates.
June 26, 2025 at 9:50 PM
stephenbheard.bsky.social
Also many years of student Entomology collections, zero scorpionflies. And my partner, also an entomologist, zero scorpionflies. So I'm fairly confident that they're at least uncommon here. So stoked!
August 6, 2025 at 12:30 AM
domenicpennetta.bsky.social
Scorpionflies are strange-looking little guys! They scavenge dead insects and frequently steal food from spider webs. 🦂🕸️Although that scorpion-like tail looks scary, males only use it for courtship display. Thank goodness!

#sciart #scientificillustration #wildlifeart #natureart #arthropods #insect
Digital illustration of a male scorpionfly, Panorpa communis, created by artist Domenic Pennetta.
March 10, 2025 at 4:01 PM
wodeworm.bsky.social
sketch type Scorpionflies and bug medley
still havent been able to pin down the really interesting nuance of the chitin, trying to improve shapes and the way the unique forms communicate to some one, the seamless blending does not mecoptera have very elongated faces multi winged, males have curious structure which give them their name, some other odd characters aswell
May 29, 2026 at 12:59 PM
entobiologist.bsky.social
MECOPTERA (scorpionflies, potentially including fleas): insects with a distinctly long face like some weevils. many males have a bulbous and pointy abdomen like actual scorpions, but these just house their harmless genitalia.
photo of a male scorpionfly. credit blake layton photo of a scorpionfly. credit reiner richter
June 11, 2025 at 4:30 AM
wisconsinbugguy.bsky.social
By default, I automatically repost awesome #scorpionflies 🤩
#Mecoptera
August 12, 2025 at 4:32 PM
theguardian.com
Wild animals are great gift givers – and there’s one present in particular I’d love to receive for Christmas | Helen Pilcher
Wild animals are great gift givers – and there’s one present in particular I’d love to receive for Christmas | Helen Pilcher
Penguins hand over pebbles; scorpionflies give spitballs. But I’m hankering after a sea sponge presented by a dolphin, says science writer Helen Pilcher
www.theguardian.com
December 25, 2025 at 9:03 AM
suillia.bsky.social
My first Snow Flea (Boreus hyemalis) of the winter at Cali Heath @yorkswildlife.bsky.social reserve today. Nice of her to pose out in the open on a fallen leaf, so didn't need to spend hours waiting for one to emerge from the Polytrichum moss! @ynuorg.bsky.social #Mecoptera #Boreidae #ukwildlife
A female Snow Flea posing on a fallen leaf on acid grassland. One of the Mecoptera order, like scorpionflies, but flightless, living down among short, Polytrichum mosses on sandy soil.
November 9, 2025 at 3:41 PM
petnoodle.bsky.social
But remember, even on the worst days: there are still Scorpionflies
#invertebrates
An orange insect with black spots on its wings, black eyes, black antennae, and a remarkably long "nose," perched on a green leaf. The background is blurry green vegetation.
February 20, 2025 at 1:29 PM
zookeys.pensoft.net
A major taxonomic review of the genus Boreus has been published, which uncovers the hidden diversity of snow scorpionflies in the Alaskan wilderness, including two new species. ❄️

Check out the full paper to learn more: doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1267.170946
February 5, 2026 at 3:22 PM
paleobyliam.bsky.social
I've gone down a bit of a rabbit hole with the flora/fauna of Jurassic China. Off the top of my head, other insect groups you could include in your Jurassic #paleoart: caddisflies, beetles, water boatmen, mayflies, lacewings, cockroaches, snakeflies, scorpionflies etc.
Jurassic scorpionflies (Mecoptera) with swollen first metatarsal segments suggesting sexual dimorphism [Zhang et al. 2021] Figure 3 The first fossil wedge-shaped beetle (Coleoptera, Ripiphoridae) from the middle Jurassic of China [Hsiao et al. 2017] Figure 6 The early assemblage of Middle–Late Jurassic Yanliao biota; checklist, bibliography and statistical analysis of described taxa from the Daohugou beds and coeval deposits (Lian et al. 2021) Figure 3 Illustration by Dinghua Yang for The first Sharephemeridae (Insecta; Ephemeroptera) from the Jurassic Shiti Formation of South China [Zhang et al. 2022]
January 24, 2025 at 11:31 PM
apsciencebylyn.bsky.social
Snootfly! 😍 I was very sad that no mourning scorpionflies (panorpa lugubris) appeared for me last year; this boy chilled on my finger for a bit today, and that makes up for it. Thanks boo. Needed this today. 🖤
🌿🪰
Red-bodied flying insect, with black wings, legs, and a very long snoot; resting on the tip of my thumb
November 13, 2023 at 1:29 AM