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Snakefly

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iSnakefly
Image:Rhaphidiidae-sp.gif
Raphidiidae sp.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Subclass: Pterygota
Infraclass: Neoptera
Superorder: Endopterygota
Order: Raphidioptera
Families

Inocelliidae
Raphidiidae

Snakeflies are a group of insects in the order Raphidioptera, which has traditionally been placed within the Neuroptera but is now generally regarded as a separate order (the traditional definition of Neuroptera included the Raphidioptera and Megaloptera; sometimes the name Neuropterida is used to refer to these three orders as a group).

Raphidioptera are characterized by having an elongate prothorax but no modification of the forelegs (as in Mantispidae). Females typically have long ovipositors. The two families of snakeflies are the Raphidiidae and Inocelliidae. They are all predatory, both as adults and larvae, and in North America occur exclusively in the Western United States, but also occur throughout temperate Europe and Asia. They can be quite common.

The order contains some 150 species.

[edit] External links

[edit] Further reading

  • Aspock, H. 2002. The biology of Raphidioptera: A review of present knowledge. Acta Zool. Acad. Sci. Hungaricae 48 (suppl 2) 35-50.
  • Grimaldi, D. and Engel, M.S. (2005). Evolution of the Insects. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-82149-5.
  • Carpenter, F.M. 1936. Revision of the nearctic Raphidiodea (recent and fossil). Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts Sci. 71: 89-157.
de:Kamelhalsfliegen

fr:Raphidioptera no:Kamelhalsfluer pl:Wielbłądki

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