How cool is this? There are some good bugs at work in my garden whose forebears shared the earth and the skies with the likes of stegosaurs, pterosaurs, sauropods and the like. That's about 140,000,000 years ago in the early Jurassic, although I found another source that puts them as far back as the Permian period which is 250 to 300 million years ago. The fossilized ancestors of them look quite similar and this guy (it is a male) does look rather prehistoric in my opinion and according to that all knowing source Wikipedia they have been considered to be living fossils.
And what is it? The first time I caught a glimpse of one I thought it was some sort of mantid because of that long neck, but no, the wings are wrong and it lacks the highly developed forelegs of a mantid. Then I though lacewing because of those wings, but the long neck is all wrong. Then I a photo of a mantidfly, which has that long neck and lacy wings but it has forelegs that resemble those of a mantid, so wrong again. And that finally led me to a photo of a snakefly. Ta Da! That's it! The name snakefly comes from the long body, especially that of the female which for most snakeflies has a very long ovipositor which looks like a long stinger and it extends beyond the ends of her wings.
To get a sense of the size of a snakefly the one that I photographed is sitting of a mint leaf. Both larvae and adults are predators. The adults apparently like to chow down on aphids and mites which certainly makes them welcome residents in my aphid infested garden. The larvae seem to prefer the eggs and larvae of various insects. The larvae are fairly long lived, typically 2 to 3 years and as much as 6. The female lays her eggs in crevices in bark or rotting wood. I am pretty sure that I've spotted the larvae in my aging oak trimming based compost. According to bugguide.net Probably only a smaller part develop under bark; in most spp. larvae live in top layers of soil, particularly in the detritus around the roots of shrubs, sometimes in rock crevices (H. Aspöck, "The Biology of Raphidioptera")
They are not uncommon and are found in North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. In North America they are found only west of the Rocky Mountains and in Texas.
Additional good information about snakeflies can be found HERE on bugguide.net.
It's fun to be able to add another species to the host of good bugs that I've found in and around my garden.
How neat to know! Fabulous post. Blown away. Two ways. Me from this wind and me from reading about the good bug from the Age of Dinosaurs. Plants turning up their toes, their wet toes.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely a fun critter to get to know. Breezy, rain, and COLD here. The plants don’t know what to do - hot, dry, cold, dry, cold, wet, warm, wet, warm, dry, cold, wet, warm.....
DeleteWhat a find! And thankfully they are beneficial predator bugs as well. It's another good example of why one shouldn't just spray or whack every bug they see in the garden. Though I do confess the wasp that harassed me in the greenhouse today is history.
ReplyDeleteThere are so many interesting bugs to encounter. I got over my knee jerk reaction to squash and now I try to get a good look or better to get a decent photo. Some of the most beneficial ones are the scariest looking. But yellow jacket wasps are fair game. I know they are beneficial in their own way but not in my back yard, I’ve been stung too many times.
DeleteNot something that I have ever seen but isn’t it good to have some insect allies rather than just the plant nibblers.
ReplyDeleteI rejoice every time I find a new beneficial bug in my garden!
DeleteI have never heard of a snakefly before - what a fascinating creature. And larva that live for years? That's incredible! Good thing they are one of the good guys!
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