About the Scorpionfly Logo

The insect logo selected for the 55th annual meeting of the North Central Branch of the Entomological Society of America is the scorpionfly Panorpa helena Byers (Mecoptera: Panorpidae). This insect is also the "official" insect logo of the Department of Entomology at the University of Minnesota. Jeff Hahn took the color photograph of this insect from which Doug Cripe-McNamera made this ink drawing. Panorpa are usually found on low shrubs and herbs in shaded environments, most often in forests. Mecoptera is a distinctive and ancient order that almost certainly was ancestoral to the Diptera and Siphonaptera. They are noted for their complex mating systems where males court females with dead prey. The males with the best nuptial gifts get the most mates. Males sometimes pose as females to grab their rivals dead insect and improve their chances! The ecological role of mecopterans in ecosystems are little studied; there are no pest species.

Last year's logo was the regal fritillary butterfly, Speyeria idalia; in 1998 it was the American burying beetle, Nicrophorus americanus.