General Description
Body black and orange with narrow, transparent wings. Long legs with claws on the end. Body up to 2 cm long.
Biology
Scorpion Fly males hang on to vegetation by their front legs and use their hindlegs to catch passing insects. The male presents the female with an insect offering before they mate. The female drops cube-shaped eggs on the ground and when the caterpillars (larvae) hatch, they feed on dead insects. They are not true flies.
Distribution
South-eastern mainland Australia and Tasmania.
Habitat
On leafy, herbaceous plants, low shrubs and occasionally grasses in moist areas.
More Information
-
Animal Type
-
Animal SubType
-
Brief Id
Orange body, transparent wings, claws on tips of legs.
-
Colours
Black, Orange
-
Habitats
-
Diet
Carnivore
-
Endemicity
-
Conservation Statuses
CITES: Not listed, FFG Threatened List: Not listed, EPBC Act 1999: Not listed, IUCN Red List: Not listed
-
Taxon Name
-
Scientific Author
(Klug, 1838)
-
Common Name
Scorpion Fly
-
Kingdom
-
Phylum
-
Subphylum
-
Class
-
Order
-
Family
-
Genus
-
Species Name
australis
