File:
<raphid.htm> [For educational
purposes only] Glossary <Principal Natural Enemy Groups > <Citations> <Home> |
NEUROPTERA, Raphidiidae (Burmeister 1835) -- <Images>
& <Juveniles> Please refer also
to the following links for details on this group: Raphidiidae = Link 1 Description
Carpenter (1936)
gave an early review regarding the behavior of raphidids, most of which were European
species. Adults of Raphidia notata F. were found to feed readily on aphids in the
laboratory. Larger insects such as
flies and beetle larvae were attacked only after they had been injured and
were thus unable to put up a defense.
Adult Agulla unicolor Carp. fed on freshly killed
Chironomidae. They showed a definite
cannibalistic tendency also. Raphidiidae is a
small family with less than 100 described species. There are 17 species of Raphidia
known in North America. They are mainly
palearctic in distribution, but are found on all continents except
Australia. Important characters of
these "snake flies" include an elongated prothorax with forelegs at
the posterior end; front legs not raptorial; forewing R-s with more than two
branches; ocelli are absent; ovipositor is exserted and antennae are
setiform. The wings of adults vary
from 6-17 mm long, and females are somewhat larger than males. Larvae and adult
raphidiids are predaceous on soft-bodied insects such as lepidopterous larvae
and aphids. Their eggs are laid in
clusters in crevices in bark and the larvae live under bark, in decaying
wood, or in similar protected places.
They pupate in an oval cell beneath bark or in decaying wood. The life cycle may take several years. One species was introduced into New
Zealand from southern California in 1890 as a predator of black scale eggs,
with limited success (Clausen 1940/62). References: Please refer to <biology.ref.htm>, [Additional references
may be found at: MELVYL
Library] Carpenter, F. M. 1936.
Revision of the nearctic Raphidiodea (recent and fossil). Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts & Sci. 71(2): 89-157. |