Sharp-dressed scorpionfly

Gave up my walk at Oak Point to take advantage of the Heard Sanctuary's rare Monday hours. It was a  magical morning surprising three whitetail deer on the trail, photographing sparkly webs, getting a stiff neck watching a brown creeper circle the trunk of a 167 year old sycamore tree, and being stunned by two brown thrashers flying right past my head. My mom would have been in rapture between the creeper and the thrashers.

Perhaps best of all, I got photos of a mystery bug to ID. What was it? A sharp-dressing fly? A winged assassin bug?

The field guide illustration did not do it justice, but gave me a lead that this was an interesting critter, fortunately harmless to humans. Having four wings instead of two, it was not really a fly. Not an arachnid, it also wasn't a scorpion. Here is a great explanation from the Eastfield College Microscopy Lab in Mesquite, TX. Panorpa nuptialis is stranger than fiction:

Click here!

Grateful for this public domain image, but it may cause nightmares! Happy Halloween to all.

© 2014-2017 Nancy L. Ruder