| Despite
looking ferocious, Scorpion Flies are actually harmless.
They are very common in most habitats (most especially
hedgerows) spending most of their time resting on
vegetation. Primarily carnivorous, they prefer a diet of
dead insects and carrion etc, but will occasionally eat
rotting vegetable matter. There are four members of the Panorpidae
family in the UK and they are fairly large
insects, measuring about 2.5cm in length. Found
throughout most of the Summer months, the first adults
usually appear from late April onwards. Identification of
the four UK species is difficult from photographs. |
