Discover Top Posts Tagged with #lispy-grimaljin

Popular Recent

if a lot of caterpillars try to mimic caterpillars that are all toxic, why don't all caterpillars end up doing that? what's preventing them?

All caterpillars don’t need to mimic toxic species. They’ve evolved other methods of evading predators!

#lispy-grimaljin

can you give some cool neat snakefly facts for me please?

Coming up!

Snakeflies (Raphidioptera) are day-active insects that feed on soft-bodied arthropods. The females have a long, needle-like ovipositor. They get their name due to their prothorax which is elongated and kind of resembles a snake. They are found in North America (generally the Southern portion), Eurasia, and North Africa (1,2).

Snakeflies were once part of the Order Neuroptera, but that Order has since been broken into 3 orders: Neuroptera ( Lacewings, Antlions & Mantidflies), Megaloptera (Alderflies, Dobsonflies & Fishflies), and Raphidioptera (Snakeflies). They are a primative order of insects even still and follow a lifecycle of egg -> larva -> pupa -> adult (2).

They have a long courtship ritual which involves a cleaning procedure with their legs and antennae. This then is followed by one of two copulating positions where either the male hangs head first from the female or crawls under her and attaches his head at her fifth sternite. Mating lasts between a few minutes to 1.5 hours. However in some species it can even take up to 3 hours (1) .

Also, these guys are clumsy fliers (3).

Lastly, although scientists didn’t begin to really study them until 1735, there are wood-block carving printings of them as book illustrations as early as the seventeenth century (3).

References: 1, 2, 3

Images: 1, 2

#snakeflies #Raphidioptera #entemology #biology #zoology #lispy-grimaljin