Seeing as I have had quite a bit of luck photographing bugs this year, I thought it was time to write a short blog post about one of my favourite insects. I can’t quite believe that I have lived my entire life and never encountered a scorpion fly before. Yes, they are tiny, with a wingspan of up to 35mm and a length of around 30mm. Perhaps I didn’t spot them because they prefer to hang about along woodland edges, in patches of nettles and brambles.
The thing that caught my eye when studying the first image I captured last year was the length of the beak. It uses this to scavenge on dead insects, which are frequently stolen from spiders’ webs. Both male and female live up to their name by sporting a scorpion-like tail, which the male uses in courtship displays. Mating can be a dangerous time for him though, as he may be killed by the female. In order to placate her, he will offer a gift of a dead insect or a mass of saliva. (The bug equivalent of a bunch of flowers I guess).
I was only able to photograph one male this summer and the image can be seen below. The rest are all females.
There is a lovely story behind the photograph at the top. It was taken at Ditchling Common, where I had spectacularly failed to find a black hairstreak butterfly. Instead, I wandered around capturing everything from harlequin ladybirds to cucumber spiders. I had just found this scorpion fly and rattled off a few shots. An elderly lady who was passing by asked what I had found. I showed her the image on the back of my camera and she was amazed to discover an insect that she had never seen before. We chatted for a while about the beauty of nature and in return, she told me where I could find some tiny bee orchids.
Perhaps we should all make an effort to get out a bit more.
Steve Cullum
28 Aug 2019A really good post and excellent photos. Keep up the good work 🙂
Zooey
28 Aug 2019Cheers Steve! I’m trying to get on top of things before I go away. I’m going to miss bug season until it comes round again 🙂
Sid
4 Sep 2019Ohhh… It’s the first time I see a scorpion fly! What a fascinating insect 🙂
Great photos, love the little guy!
Ciao
Sid
Zooey
4 Sep 2019I love them too. It’s been rather sad. Two tiny bugs that I love have both been found at home in the last couple of days. Sadly they had drowned in bowls of water. I tried to revive them, but with no luck. One was a scorpion fly this morning and the other was a ruby wasp. I have yet to photograph one of those, but take a look at THIS