Common scorpionfly (Panorpa communis) female

Common scorpionfly (Panorpa communis) female

Description

Title:
Common scorpionfly (Panorpa communis) female
Caption / Description:

A female Common scorpionfly (Panorpa communis) rests on a green leaf.

From Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panorpa_communis):

Panorpa communis or common scorpionfly is a species of scorpionfly native to Western Europe.

The common scorpionfly has a black and yellow body, with a reddish head and tail. The male has a pair of claspers at the end of its tail (for holding the female during mating), giving it a scorpion-like appearance, although it is not a stinger. The adult insect has a wingspan of about 35mm, with wings that are mostly clear, but have many dark spots or patches. Its head, mounted with large eyes, is drawn into a prominent, upward pointing beak, which opens at the tip of its head.

The larva resembles a caterpillar and grows up to 20.3mm long. it has three pairs of thoracic legs and eight pairs of prolegs. The adult is seen between May and September, and can be usually found in hedgerows and patches of nettle. They eat dead insects (although they sometimes eat live aphids), sometimes stealing them from spider webs.

Although fully winged, the adults rarely fly very far and spend much of their time crawling on vegetation in damp, shaded places near water and along hedgerows. Eggs are laid in soil annually and the larvae both scavenge and pupate there.

Tags / Keywords:
  • Biota
  • Life
  • Vitae
  • Eukaryota
  • Animalia
  • Animals
  • Arthropoda
  • Arthropods
  • Insecta
  • Insects
  • Mecoptera
  • Panorpidae
  • Scorpionflies
  • Panorpa
  • Panorpa communis
  • Common scorpionfly

Admin

Date Original Photo Taken:
Original File Name:
_DSC7268.NEF
Event:
Rating:
Date this image added/last updated on website:
Original File Dimensions:
3872px x 2592px
File Type:
JPEG
Color Mode:
RGB
Original Image Color Profile:
Nikon Adobe RGB 4.0.0.3000

Location

Location Created:
Sublocation:
City:
Market Harborough
Province/State:
Leicestershire
Country:
United Kingdom
World Region:
Europe
Geo-location:

Rights

Copyright Status:
Copyrighted
Licensing Status:
Rights Managed
Available for Editorial Use:
Yes
Available for Commercial Use:
Yes
Copyright Notice:
© 2008 Dave Kennard

Camera Data

Date Digital Resource was created:
Shutter speed:
1160 s
Aperture:
f/8
Camera Model:
Nikon D200
ISO:
400
Exposure Compensation:
0
Focal Length:
125mm
Focal Length (35mm equiv.):
187mm
Metering Mode:
Multi-segment
Flash:
No Flash
Exposure Mode:
Auto
White Balance:
Manual
Light Source:
Cloudy
Exposure Program:
Aperture-priority AE

Additional shooting metadata

Lens:
Nikon AF-S VR Zoom Nikkor ED 70-300mm F4.5-5.6G(IF)
Filters used:
  • B+W UV 010 MRC
Additional Optics used:
  • Olympus MCON-35
Setup:
Handheld
Flash: SB800

Post Processing

Image Modified:
Software used:
  • Nikon Capture NX
Post Processing: