Neuroptera (lace wings, alderflies, snakeflies, ant lions)
The Neuroptera are an order in the phylum Uniramia or Hexapoda (depends which book you read), for more pages on this phylum click the menu below left.

Uniramia

--Centipedes

--Hexapoda 1 (insects)

--Hexapoda 2 (insects)

--Identification to order level

--Insect orders

----Lepidoptera (butterflies, moths)

----Ephemeroptera (mayflies)

----Hemiptera (bugs, cicadas)

----Hymenoptera (bees, ants, wasps & saw flies)

------Bumblebees

----Coleoptera (beetles)

----Dictyoptera (mantids, cockroaches)

----Diptera (true flies)

----Neuroptera (lacewings, ant lions)

----Orthoptera (crickets, locusts)

----Thysanura (bristletails, silver fish)

----Strepsiptera (stylops)

----Thysanoptera (thrips)

----Odonata (dragonflies, damselflies)

----Trichoptera (caddis flies)

----Siphonaptera (fleas)

----Isoptera (termites)

----Phasmida (stick & leaf insects)

----Dermaptera (earwigs)

----Anoplura/siphunculata (sucking lice)

----Mallophaga (biting lice, bird lice)

----Psocoptera (book, bark, dust lice)

----Mecoptera (scorpion flies)

----Collembola (springtail)

----Embioptera (web spinners)

----Plecoptera (stone flies)

----Diplura (bristletails)

----Protura

----Zoraptera

Neuroptera fast facts

2 pairs of membranous wings with complex venation held roof wise over the body when at rest.
Large eyes
Long antennae
Holometabolous, so undergo complete metamorphosis.
around 5000 recorded species worldwide, 200 in Europe, 60 in UK.
Predatory.
Usually weak fliers.
Biting mouthparts

The Neuroptera are divided into two sub-orders, snake flies and alder flies are in the sub-order Megaloptera, and lacewings and ant lions are in the sub-order Planipennia. Megaloptera have biting mouthparts and Planipennia have sucking mouthparts.

Lacewings

(left) eat huge numbers of greenfly and other small insects. The larva have three pairs of legs and are entirely carnivorous (see below right a Chrysopidae larva and left an adult).The lacewing larval mouthparts form two tubes, and it sucks out its prey's juices rather like we would suck a drink through a straw - no pretty parasols or bits of fruit on the lacewing's cocktail though. The larvae have a blind

gut so faeces are not voided until the insect becomes an adult. There are around 1600 species of lacewing in the world, and 43 British species (14 green, ans 29 brown). They can vary quite a lot is size, from a wingspan of 1 - 5 cm. They are mainly nocturnal and are preyed on by bats, but to help them avoid the echolocation ultrasound clicks of bats they have ultrasound sensors in their wings. In the U.S and Egypt lacewings are used commercially to control pests in the cotton crop.

The lacewings above and right belongs to the family Chrysopidae often called Golden eye. There are 14 species in the UK, and they all have prominent metallic-looking eyes as adults. Some are used in biological control as they eat huge numbers of aphids and plant lice. It has been reported that a lacewing larva can eat 300 - 400 aphids before pupating into an adult. Some Chrysopdae larvae have a rather grisly way of camouflaging themselves from predators. They cover their bodies with the dried out husks of the aphids and other insects that they have sucked dry. The larvae pupate in silken cocoons. Adults often enter buildings to hibernate over winter. Just leave them to sleep the winter away, and in the spring they will fly outside.

Below right is Hemerobius perla, a brown lacewing in the Hemerobiidae family of which there are 40 species in Europe and 29 in Britain. All the Hemerobiidae are brown or grey, and some are hairy.

Lacewing eggs are laid on plants at the end of threads of mucus which hardens in contact with the air (see left). Some are laid singly and others are bunched together, see below left.

Because the eggs are hanging in the air at the end of a very thin stalk they escape the notice of predatory insects such as ants.

Alderfly larva

On the left is an alderfly larva in the Sialidae family. If you put a finger or plant stalk near the front of an alderfly larva it will back away from it snapping its jaws.

Alderflies

The alderfly larva lives in still and slow-moving water and is carnivorous. Adults emerge in late spring and early summer. They are easy to recognise as the wing margins show no obvious forking of the veins, as is normal with others in this order and can be seen in the lacewing adult on the right. They are weak fliers and usually do not stray far from water, so can usually be found on waterside vegetation. They eat very little as adults - just a little pollen. The female lays her eggs in batches of 200 or more beside water or on vegetation overhanging still or slow moving water. When the eggs hatch (usually in around 7 - 14 days) the larvae crawl or drop into water. The larvae are carnivorous, and are very fond of eating caddis fly larva and may fly nymphs. They pupate in the soil. They tend to overwinter as larva, and so the life cycle is around a year. However in the U. K. the larval stage can last 2 years, and can be even longer in colder regions. They pupate in debris near the water, and pupation takes around 3 weeks. There are about 100 species world wide, 3 in Europe and 2 in the UK.

The adult alderfly on the right belongs to the Sialidae family, and is probably Sialis lutaria. The adults is 10 - 15 mm long, with glossy brown wings.

Ant lions (Myrmeleontidae family)

The most remarkable feature of ant lions is the pit fall trap the larva constructs to capture its prey. Left is a Myrmeleon formicarius pit fall trap with just the jaws of the larva visible, and on the right is the fat, hairy larva. The larva constructs the trap in loose sand, and once the trap is dug it waits with just its jaws on the outside for an insect to fall to the bottom. The jaws are huge and perforated so the larva can inject digestive enzymes to soften the tissues, then suck the juices of its victims. The most common victims are ants. When an insect falls into the trap and slides down the sandy slope into its jaws it grabs it. If the victim puts up a fight the ant lion will either drag it under the sand or whack it against the side of the trap until it is subdued. Any victim falling into the trap and trying to get out will be bombarded with sand to try to make it lose its footing. Common pitfall trap locations are cave entrances, under overhanging rocks, and around human habitations.The larva is a curious beast, it cannot walk forwards, but only backwards. Also it never emits any faeces until it is ready to emerge from its chrysalis which can be 1 - 2 years after hatching from the egg. Then it emits the accumulated faeces.

Ant lion communities? Ant lion larva have very specific habitat requirements - fine sand or dust, dry and sheltered from rain. As these areas are hard to find some suitable areas appear to be populated by a community of ant lion larva. However there is no interaction between the various larvae - they are there because of the lack of suitable habitat elsewhere.

The ant lion adults resemble dragonflies, but have thicker, clubbed antennae. Adults are not strong fliers and tend to fly at night. Adults are also carnivorous, living off smaller insects that they find crawling over vegetation.

Its eggs are laid singly or in groups in dry, sandy soil.

There are 1000 species worldwide, in semi-arid areas. There are no native British species of ant lion.

Snakeflies

The snakefly gets its name from its long neck and its method of catching prey, (usually soft-bodied insects) by raising its head and lunging. There are about 150 species world wide, and 4 in Britain. In the UK they are usually found in wooded or shady areas, and prefer pine and oak trees, where their favourite food is aphids. Adults are found from May - July. After pupating the adults fly to the tree tops to feed on aphins, and so are seldom seen by us. Unusually, during mating the male is under the female. Females have a long ovipositor to lay their eggs in the crevices of bark on dead and decaying trees. The larvae live in the burrows of wood-boring beetles, and feed on the grubs they find inside the tree. The larvae can be parasitised by ichneumonid wasps. Pupation takes place in debris either at the foot of the tree, or bark surface. In the U. K. the life cycle usually takes 2 years.

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