The female scorpionfly lacks the stinger-like (but completely harmless) clasper of the male which gives the scorpionfly its name.

I have been blissfully inundated with photo opportunities the past week or so; just a ton of insects everywhere, and some pretty interesting ones on top of that. One thing I have yet to see is a male scorpionfly which you can differentiate from the females by its stinger-like appendage at the end of its abdomen. It’s completely harmless, serving to clasp onto the female during mating. I see plenty of female scropionflies so the males must be out there; one more thing to find in the great bazaar of nature!