(Describer) Titles: The Bug Chicks, and Solpugid Productions, in association with Texas A and M University.
Insects and Human Society.
♪
There are some insects
that you just don't see
flying around that often.
I mean, they're there,
but you don't really notice them
until they're caught in a trap.
Gah! Ow!
(Describer) After sneaking around behind Jessica, Kristie gets caught in a net.
Ugh! Hey! Man!
We find this is the case
with scorpionflies.
(Describer) Different insects are shown: including a small green one with wings, hundreds of tiny ones swarming a worm, one with transparent wings climbing a tree, a thin green one looking around, two with translucent white wings, and one crawling on a green leaf before flying off.
Titles: The Insect Orders.
♪
(Describer) Order Mecoptera : Scorpionflies.
Taxonomy.
Mecoptera. "Meco" means long,
so these are the long winged.
This group is made up
of scorpionflies
and hangingflies.
Now, I don't find
the name Mecoptera
to be very descriptive
for this order
because there are
lots of insects with long wings.
So this is how I remember it:
"Meco" backwards is "ocem,"
like organic chemistry.
We've all felt the sting
of organic chemistry,
and scorpions have stingers.
That's horrible.
It really is.
Usually I just memorize this,
but I'm feeling
a lot of pressure
to come up with these.
(Describer) Title: Morphology.
The scorpionflies
are named for the males
who have a thickened
terminal abdominal segment
that looks kind of like
the stinger of a scorpion.
It's not a stinger, and
these insects have no venom.
It's actually a clasper
that the males use
to hold on to the female
during mating.
They have a longish snout
with chewing mouthparts
at the end
and look a bit dopey.
That's a scientific term.
The winged forms
of all of the insects
in the order Mecoptera
have four wings.
This is helpful to remember
because of the hangingflies,
named for their distinctive
feeding stance
where they hang from two legs
and hold their prey
with another pair.
Hangingflies look a lot
like a kind of true fly
called a crane fly
or a mosquito hawk.
Four wings tells you
it's a mecopteran.
(Describer) Title: Biodiversity and Distribution.
In all the world there are only
about 500 species of Mecoptera,
and 68 of them
live here in the U.S.,
in the southern states.
(Describer) Title: Biology and Life History.
Scorpionflies practice
what we call
opportunistic scavenging.
So they're like freegans?
Kind of.
They eat everything from nectar
to decaying matter
and dead and dying insects.
They've even been known to gank
a snack off of a spider's web.
There have been reports
that they're attracted
to human sweat, but don't worry.
These insects are harmless.
(Describer) In snow...
There are some scorpionflies
that are wingless,
and spend their entire lives
on snowfields or moss
at high elevations.
If you guys get a chance
to see one, don't pick it up,
because the heat of your hands
could kill them.
I found one!
Kristie!
I'm totally kidding.
It's a rock.
[laughs]
Snow scorpionflies
are really rare.
We didn't find one.
(Describer) In a park...
And, finally,
hangingflies are predatory,
but they catch their food
in a very unusual way.
They hang from their front legs
and use their hind legs
to catch flying insects.
Kristie will demonstrate
how difficult this is
as I throw this footlong steak
and cheese sandwich at her.
Sock it to me!
(Describer) She catches it with her knees while hanging from a pull-up bar.
Oh!
I got it! I got it!
(Describer) Then she stands and picks it up.
Yum!
(Describer) Title: Metamorphosis.
Mecopterans go through
complete metamorphosis.
Eggs can overwinter for months
until they hatch in the spring.
The larvae live in the soil
where they pupate
and emerge as adults.
(Describer) Title: Collection.
Since adult scorpionflies
are scavengers,
try using a baited pitfall trap
to catch them.
Take a tall plastic container,
put in about an inch
of soapy water.
Put that in a hole
in the ground.
Make sure that it's level
with the ground.
And then drop in
a piece of meat on a stick.
Done.
Now, malaise traps
and beat sheets work well too.
A beat sheet
is totally easy to make.
You'll need
two dowels of equal length--
about 2 feet is good--
a sheet, and some duct tape.
Put the dowels in a cross
and duct-tape them.
Then, take the sheet and cut it
to slightly larger than
the square the dowels make.
Flip the corners over
the dowels and tape in place.
(Describer) Jessica holds it by the dowels.
Hold it up
under some brushy shrubs,
and hit the plant a bit gently,
and see what you get.
(Describer) It catches debris.
We are so D.I.Y.
(Describer) Title: Human Impact.
These insects
pretty much keep to themselves.
They aren't crop pests,
and you're unlikely to find them
in your house.
So in terms of human impact,
there's really
nothing to worry about.
(Describer) Title: Mythology and Culture.
Now, there's a widespread belief
that these animals
can sting you,
and that's because
we associate their body forms
with those of scorpions,
which can sting us.
But scorpionflies are harmless.
However, Stephen King
doesn't seem to think so.
In the movie
based on his story The Mist,
scorpionflies are
these huge, nasty flying insects
that terrorize people.
We can't secure the rights
to show you this gem of cinema,
but we can show you video
of us watching it on YouTube.
[man shouts]
(Describer) They sit eating popcorn as they watch.
[dramatic music crescendos]
(man #1)
I think something's
gonna happen.
(man #2)
Guys, I hear something.
[loud roar]
[people screaming]
[chuckles]
No! No--
Really?
That is not what they--
Boo! Boo!
[people shouting]
(Describer) They throw popcorn.
[groans]
anh!
No!
No! Turn it off!
[chortling]
[groans]
ugh!
(Describer) Kristie gets a remote and turns it off.
Titles:
Written and Produced by Kristie Reddick, Jessica Honaker
Videographers: Kristie Reddick, Jessica Honaker
Accessibility provided by the US Department of Education.
♪
