Lacewings & Scorpionflies

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.

Click on the headings below to expand/contract the text.

Lacewings - Neuroptera

Hemerobiidae

Chrysopidae

Osmylidae

Sisyridae - Spongeflies or Spongillaflies

Coniopterygidae - Dustywings or Waxwinged Lacewings

Alder flies - Megaloptera

Sialidae

Scorpionflies - Mecoptera

Males can be identified from a good photograph showing the valves on the top of the genital capsule. Females need to be dissected. This guide offers useful images and drawings of what to look for.

Panorpidae

Boreidae - Snow Fleas

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.

Raphidiidae