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1. kho (kho@shitposter.club)'s status on Sunday, 17-Sep-2023 06:16:37 JST kho

   in reply to
   Owlflies are one of the "ugly ducklings" of insects. The grotesque larvae are voracious predators in leaf litter and on trees. They sit and wait for prey to stray in between their oversize mandibles, seizing them and feeding on the body liquids within. The adults are elegant strong-flying insects which are sometimes confused with dragonflies.
   
   Adult owlflies can be distinguished from other lacewings and similar insects by the long antennae (almost as long as the wing length) which have a large often bi-coloured club at the tip. As with most other lacewings the wing veins fork where they meet the margin of the wing.
   
   Larvae are similar to antlion larvae, but are usually more flattened, and do not build pits to capture prey. The sides of the larval body have finger-like lateral processes on both thorax and abdomen. The mandibles have more than one large tooth on the inner margin.
   
   Both adults and larvae are predators. Adults hawk flying insects in much the same way that dragonflies do. Larvae are sit and wait predators of many invertebrates, although they will move in response to nearby movement of potential prey to assist in prey capture.