Snakeflies - Raphidioptera

All images on this website have been taken in Leicestershire and Rutland by NatureSpot members. We welcome new contributions - just register and use the Submit Records form to post your photos. Click on any image below to visit the species page. The RED / AMBER / GREEN dots indicate how easy it is to identify the species - see our Identification Difficulty page for more information. A coloured rating followed by an exclamation mark denotes that different ID difficulties apply to either males and females or to the larvae - see the species page for more detail.

Lacewings & Scorpionflies

This group includes a number of very common and frequently encountered insects. However identifying the species isn't obvious for most species. Fortunately there are a few good resources to help with this.

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Leicestershire and Rutland resources

None known.

Useful websites and publications

Gloucester Mecopteran - a useful free guide to the three UK species of scorpionflies and how to identify them.

Key to the Adults of British Lacewings and their Allies, Colin Plant - this Aidgap publication from the FSC is the best resource around for this group. A bargain at £8.

If you know of other websites or books that you would recommend, do let us know: info@naturespot.co.uk

Snakeflies - Raphidioptera

Snakeflies are rarely encountered as they spend most of their adult lives in the tree canopy. There is just one family (Raphidiidae) with four British species.