Scorpionflies
Guides
Bittacidae
Hangingflies, Hanging scorpionflies
Bittacidae is a family of scorpionflies commonly known as hangingflies or hanging scorpionflies. Adults are characterized by their distinctive hanging posture, grasping vegetation with their forelegs while using their raptorial hindlegs to capture prey. The family exhibits notable sexual behavior including nuptial prey gift exchange, where males present captured prey to females during courtship. Bittacidae has a cosmopolitan distribution with significant diversity in Australia, where the genus Harpobittacus represents the largest radiation. The family has been subject to extensive taxonomic study, particularly in the Afrotropics where Dr. Jason Londt described more species than any other author.
Panorpidae
scorpionflies, common scorpionflies
Panorpidae is the largest family of scorpionflies (order Mecoptera), comprising more than 480 species across approximately 70% of the order's diversity. Adults range 9–25 mm in length and possess four membranous wings, threadlike antennae, and elongated faces with chewing mouthparts. The family is characterized by males having enlarged genital claspers that curve upward like a scorpion's tail, giving the group its common name. The fossil record extends to the Eocene, with the extinct genus Baltipanorpa known from Baltic amber.