212 Psyche [October- December 



NOTES ON THE FEEDING HABITS OF SCORPION- 

 FLIES (MECOPTERA: PANORPIDAE). 



By Waro Nakahara, 



New York City. 



The classical theory that adult Panorpids, or scorpion- 

 flies, are predatory has no basis in fact. I refer to the observa- 

 tions of Felt(Tenth Report, N.Y. State,Entom pp. 463-480, 1893), 

 in America, of Campion (The Entomologist, Vol. xlv, p. 322, 1912 

 in England, ahd of Miyake (Journ. Coll. Agric. Tokyo, Vol. iv, 

 pp. 117-139, 1912), in Japan, all of which tend to establish that 

 these interesting creatures fefed upon de^d animal matter, but 

 never prey upon the living. Moreover, Miyake noted that 

 Panorpa klugi M'Lach., which he studied in captivity sometimes 

 feeds upon flowers, causing the petals to drop. Later, he(Ibid, 

 pp. 265-400, 1913) reported observing in the fields "many scor- 

 pion-flies (P. klugi) swarming about a shrub and eagerly sucking 

 its juicy fruits." 



In connection with these observations, I wish to put on 

 record here, thiat two species of scorpion-flies common in the 

 vicinity of Ithaca, N. Y., namely Panorpa rufescens Ramb. and 

 and P. maculosa Hagen will in captivity feed upon raspberries, 

 strawberries, cherries, sliced bananas and apples, just as readily 

 as upon dead wasps, house flies, caterpillars, spiders, etc. A few 

 specimens were kept in a glass jar, containg a little moist earth 

 in the bottom, and care was taken to provide them with dead 

 insects along with the fruits. The scorpion-flies showed ap- 

 parently an equally keen appetite for the animal and plant food. 

 These observations, made in the summer of 1920, and again in 

 1922, taken together with Miyake's reports mentioned above, 

 seem to show conclusively that adult Panorpids are mixed eaters, 

 and that they cannot be called carnivorous as is commonly done 

 in text-books. 



A few words may be said regarding the method of feeding. 

 Anatomically, because of the biting type of the mouth-parts, 

 scorpion-flies may seem to be biting insects. By carefully 



