Panorpa - Scorpion flies belong to the genus panorpa, a genus containing about 240 species. They are medium-sized insects ranging between 9 to 22 millimeters in length with slender bodies and long heads resembling a beak. Scorpion flies feed on carrion in both adult and larvae stages. Early plant life may have been pollinated by the wind, but fossils records of extinct scorpion flies indicate these insects may have been the first flying pollinators to rise out of the primeval forests.
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Lithuania first gained political recognition as the Duchy of Lithuania, a state existing from 1230 to 1795. There was a brief period when King Mindaugas, reigning from 1251 to 1263, proclaimed Lithuania a kingdom, an entity lasting only until King Mindaugas died. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a formidable power in European affairs. It merged into a successful dynastic union with Poland in 1385 and then a more formal union, the Union of Lublin in 1569; this confederation survived until 1795.
