Snakefly
The snakefly has a very long neck and a head that can move around, so it looks a bit like a snake raising its head. It has four clear, veiny wings and a long, slim body. Snakeflies are an old group of insects that lived at the same time as the dinosaurs.
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Fun facts
The larvae live under tree bark and can take two to three years to grow up, sometimes even six.
The larvae need a cold winter, around freezing, before they can change into grown-ups.
The female has a long tube on her tail end to lay eggs in cracks or under bark.
Snakeflies first appeared in the Early Jurassic, and there were many more kinds of them in the time of the dinosaurs than today.
They do not live in the tropics or in the southern half of the world.
Most asked questions about Snakefly
?Why is it called a snakefly?
Because its long neck and movable head make it look like a snake lifting its head.
?Is a snakefly dangerous?
No. It is harmless to people.
?What does a snakefly eat?
Small soft insects, like aphids, and other tiny creatures.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Raphidia ophiopsis
- Group
- Other insects
- Family
- Raphidiidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Raphidioptera > Raphidiidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Asia
Where the facts come from
- Snakefly (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Beentree. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at hello@bugwiki.app and we will fix it.
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