Nature - Wild Life - Insect life . Adult snakeflies are territorial and carnivorous organisms. They are diurnal and are important predators of aphids and mites. The name Raphidioptera is formed from Greek ῥαφίς (raphis), meaning needle, and πτερόν (pteron), meaning wing. Snakeflies have been considered a viable option for biological control of agricultural pests. The main advantage is that they have few predators, and both adults and larvae are predacious. A disadvantage is that snakeflies have a long larval period, so their numbers increase only slowly, and it could take a long time to rid crops of pests; another issue is that they prey on a limited range of pest species. Predators of snakeflies include birds; in Europe, these are woodland species such as the treecreeper, great spotted woodpecker, wood warbler, nuthatch, and dunnock, as well as generalist insect-eating species such as the collared flycatcher. 5-15% of snakefly larvae are parasitized, mainly by parasitoid wasps, but rates as high as 50% have been observed in some species.
9 апр 2024
