1931 ] 
The Biology of the Mecoptera 
41 
THE BIOLOGY OF THE MECOPTERA 
By Frank M. Carpenter* 
Among the curious phenomena of nature none is more 
unfortunate than the close correlation which exists between 
the number of species in an insect order and the number 
of entomologists concerned with it. The entomological 
world is filled with students investigating the classification, 
economies, society, pathology, eugenics, intelligence and 
morals of the Hymenoptera. Our National Parks and 
Forests are menaced annually by coleopterists, destroying 
the natural geology and tearing the barks from the trees 
in their search for new species. The Lepidoptera, espe- 
cially the more attractive groups, are gradually becoming 
extinct, because of the enthusiastic quest for aberrations 
and queer varieties. But the smaller orders of insects are 
rarely the object of biological or taxonomic investigation. 
A list of the neuropterists in all the world would not equal 
a list of the coleopterists in some of our larger cities. 
This evening I propose to discuss the habits and life- 
history of one of the smallest and therefore most neglected 
orders of insects — the Mecoptera, or scorpion-flies. Many 
of you have probably never seen one of these insects out- 
side a museum, for they are very seclusive. They fly seldom 
and for short distances only, and usually keep close to the 
ground. When disturbed they either dart to the ground and 
hide among the dead leaves, or they fly to the under sur- 
faces of the leaves and branches of shrubs, where they 
can be seen only with difficulty. So far as humans are con- 
cerned they are entirely inoffensive: they do not feed 
upon valuable crops, they have no selfish desire for human 
*Address of the retiring president of the Cambridge Entomological 
Club, January 13, 1931. Contribution from the Entomological 
Laboratory of Harvard University. 
