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Owlfly?

Family: Ascalaphidae?

Photo by yahk66
Published on Project Noah
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9.83268, -83.5648

Field Notes

Description:

Five to six of these were lined up, head to tail, on a low twig. Did not move or in any way react to our presence.

Habitat:

Lined up on twig at about 8:40 AM on verge of forest along dirt road leading to Rancho Naturalista, Costa Rica.

Notes:

From Wikipedia: Owlflies are dragonfly-like insects with large bulging eyes and strongly knobbed antennae... Owlflies are readily distinguished from dragonflies because the latter have short bristle-like antennae. The closely related antlions (family Myrmeleontidae) have short, weakly clubbed antennae, smaller eyes, and very different wing venation. All but one species of Ascalaphidae have long antennae... Adult owlflies are aerial predators feeding on other insects.

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (1)

Thanks to a similar-looking spotting by David rodriguez-roth yesterday, I think my spotting may also be in the Ascalaphidae family...though I am not sure which one. (Note especially the long, clubbed antennae and large eyes.) I'd appreciate any suggesting as to genus/species! :)
Photographed
PublishedMay 29, 2017

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