Scorpion fly Panorpa communis – a fierce predator of orchid visitors

• DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.7856730
• Publication Date: 2023-01-15
• Authors: Nora E. Anghelesc...
• Keywords: Scorpion fly; spur; alcohol; Diptera; nectar; wasps; food foraging; Panorpa communis; narcotic nectar; pollination strategies; orchids; Dactylorhiza; flies; morphology; Epipactis atrorubens; Epipactis; ecology; Orchidaceae

Scorpion flies, of the order Mecoptera, are carnivorous insects which usually feed on dead (rarely live) insects and aphids. In Central Europe, the large Panorpa flies are often seen hunting for orchid visitors or pollinators. In many circumstances, during my long days of field research in Transylvania, while trying to study various Dactylorhiza populations and their specific pollinators found in those areas, I often encountered Panorpa flies landing on large orchid inflorescences, in their constant food-foraging habit. On a few occasions, I noticed male scorpion flies aggressively piercing the spurs of Dactylorhiza fuchsii and Dactylorhiza maculata. Using their long mandibles, they easily break the thin walls of the spurs and reach the dead (or dying) bodies of the small dipterans stuck inside.