Panorpa vulgaris
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Mecoptera
Family:	Panorpidae
Genus:	Panorpa
Species:	P. vulgaris
Binomial name
Panorpa vulgaris Imhoff & Labram, 1845

Panorpa vulgaris, also known by its common name meadow scorpionfly is a species from the genus Panorpa.^[1][2][3] The species was first described in 1845.^[4]

P. vulgaris are commonly distributed throughout central Europe.^[5] They prefer dry and warm habitats that provide shade at high temperatures^[6] and are most abundant along the edges of low-lying shrubs.^[7] Despite their environmental preference, smaller populations do occur in forested areas that experience moist and cool conditions.^[6]

Meadow scorpionfly larvae have stemmata.^[8] In adult individuals the cytoplasm of their neuron cells located within the eye become reduced with aging, resulting in decreased vision^[9]

Adult individuals are often considered weak flyers^[10] due to deterioration of tissues with increasing age.^[9] Flight musculature degenerates over time due to the combination of deformed mitochondria and hypertrophy of connective tissues.^[9]

In early developmental stages larvae decrease their amount of hemocytes when transitioning into pupae.^[11] This is hypothesized by the distribution of resources to reproductive structures.^[11] Females are considered to have better immunity.^[1] Females have higher amounts of hemocytes and increased lysosomal activity in their hemolymph compared to males.^[1]

Individuals of both sexes are capable of foraging for food, they are heavily influenced by their environments.^[12] Intraspecific and interspecific competition is common between and within both sexes when food sources are limited.^[10] Both larvae and adults typically feed on dead arthropods, and adults are often kleptoparasites of spider webs.^[10] Adults are generally capable of avoiding spiderwebs when feeding on prey.^[10] Males will use their genital claspers and females will use their abdomens to remove prey from spider webs and will even strike spiders who attempt to interfere with them.^[10]

The meadow scorpionfly develops two separate generations per year,^[6] one generation that undergoes overwintering in early spring and another that experiences a diapause free-developing stage in the summer.^[6][13] During their lifecycle individuals can survive up to two months.^[14]][15]

Females meadow scorpionflies are known to be polyandrous, allowing them to make multiple mating attempts with numerous males.^[16] Some females have shown evidence of being capable of mating with up to nine different males.^[12][16] During mating, males will attach themselves to one of the females forewings with their genital claspers to remain connected until copulation is complete.^[17] Male meadow scorpionflies provide nuptial gifts for their female counterparts.^[12][10] The gifts males provide are a series of salivary secretions and different types of carrion that the females will ingest as a nutrient source.^[10][16] In the males first generation salivary secretions are the main source of nuptial gifting.^[10] During the second generation male salivary protein structures become depleted,^[9] resulting in the use of carrion.^[10] These nuptial gifts are both a mating effort and a form of paternal investment.^[16] The duration of copulation between males and females is determined by the amount of saliva a male is able to produce.^[12] While mating males will continuously transfer sperm to females until nuptial gifts are completely consumed.^[16] The sperm transferred by males will eventually compete with other ejaculates from other males by the means of the raffle principle.^[16] Since saliva production is a significant energy investment, it can be a quality indicator of male health.^[15][12] Females will further discriminate between different males based on the amount of saliva provided.^[12] The amount of saliva a female receives during mating directly influences the amount of offspring she is able to produce.^[16] Males will also be selective of females based on the amount of offspring a female will be able to produce.^[15][12][16] Inherently, males are capable of influencing the quality or the amount of ejaculate that they provide to females based on their bias.^[12]