Snakefly
Agulla sp.
Observed upon a shrub of Seep Baccharis (Baccharis salicifolia) along Devil's Canyon, Gila Co., Arizona, USA. 04 May 2010.
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These odd-looking insects can be found foraging on plants during spring in Arizona's sycamore woodlands. As adults they feed on some pollen of flowers, but are otherwise quite harmless. The long appendage from the abdomen posterior is not a sting. This is a holometabolous insect that must pass through egg, larva and pupa before reaching the full-grown, winged, adult stage. As larvae they live probably beneath leaf litter or under loose bark as predators of other soft-bodied insects. Several species range through much of the United States and Mexico but are most common in the drier portions of the West.
Previously, snakeflies were classified as belonging to the insect order Neuroptera together with lacewings, antlions and dobsonflies. Most authorities now are accepting that they belong in a separate order, the Rhaphidioptera.
Raphidiidae -- Snakefly Family
More Information:
- Bugguide Iowa State University
- Natural History Riverside co., California
- ITIS Taxonomic Report
- Google Images
- Google Scholar Literature Search