steve
Full Member
Posts: 231
|
Post by steve on Apr 7, 2014 3:09:07 GMT -8
Can anyone ID this? It came into lights last night in the Namib Desert in Sossusvlei Attachments:
|
|
steve
Full Member
Posts: 231
|
Post by steve on Apr 7, 2014 3:10:32 GMT -8
I forgot to add, it's about 10cm long.
|
|
|
|
Post by boghaunter1 on Apr 7, 2014 8:30:15 GMT -8
It's a Neuropteran... a giant Antlion... possibly a Lachlathetes sp.. L. gigas is the largest recorded sp. with a wingspan up to 177mm in females (see pg. 54-55 in the book "Big Bugs Life-size" by George Beccaloni). These are some of the largest Antlion spp. in the world & are truly spectacular, yet the adults are very delicately built. The larvae are solitary, aggressive, free ranging predators hiding under rocks & debris rushing out to actively catch their prey. Most people are familiar with the smaller Antlions spp. which have larvae that dig conical pits in sandy habitat to entrap prey.
John K.
|
|
steve
Full Member
Posts: 231
|
Post by steve on Apr 7, 2014 12:36:40 GMT -8
Thanks John, it is a truly spectacular insect.
Cheers
Steve
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2014 10:17:04 GMT -8
It's a Neuropteran... a giant Antlion... possibly a Lachlathetes sp.. L. gigas is the largest recorded sp. with a wingspan up to 177mm in females (see pg. 54-55 in the book "Big Bugs Life-size" by George Beccaloni). These are some of the largest Antlion spp. in the world & are truly spectacular, yet the adults are very delicately built. The larvae are solitary, aggressive, free ranging predators hiding under rocks & debris rushing out to actively catch their prey. Most people are familiar with the smaller Antlions spp. which have larvae that dig conical pits in sandy habitat to entrap prey. John K. Hey John, Do you have any idea what the L. gigas larvae looks like? I would love to get some of these to breed. I raised the American antlion ssp, and they are very entertaining to watch build traps and flick sand at unfortunate ants  their loud flying also makes for a good cat toy, as I found after an untimely emergence haha |
|
their loud flying also makes for a good cat toy, as I found after an untimely emergence haha