Need your help identifying a flying insect - Ask Extension
Hello,
We live at 2348 Fairfield Drive in east Medford in a residential neighborhood. Since early June, on 3 different days, we have seen a type of f...
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Need your help identifying a flying insect #802105
Asked July 19, 2022, 5:51 PM EDT
Hello,
We live at 2348 Fairfield Drive in east Medford in a residential neighborhood. Since early June, on 3 different days, we have seen a type of flying insect that we need help identifying. When it landed on the outside wall in the patio area, I was able to photograph it and then capture it in a jar.
I have attached a photo of them to see if you can tell us what it is?
Thank you,
Nancy Leonard and Keith Aeschliman
Cell:<personal data hidden>
Landline:<personal data hidden>
Jackson County Oregon
Expert Response
You have a snakefly! Snakeflies are predatory insects that are cousins of other beneficial predatory insects like lacewings. Both the adults and larvae (immatures) are predatory.
The one you caught is a female (notice the long tube on her rear end - that is her ovipositor that she uses to lay eggs in nooks and crannies, like in layers of bark.
She is in the genus Agulla. Snakeflies are not abundant, but they are not uncommon throughout Oregon.
The one you caught is a female (notice the long tube on her rear end - that is her ovipositor that she uses to lay eggs in nooks and crannies, like in layers of bark.
She is in the genus Agulla. Snakeflies are not abundant, but they are not uncommon throughout Oregon.
