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Aphid Lion

Chrysopidae

Photo by EduardoFrick
Published on Project Noah
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-23.4961, -46.1501

Field Notes

Description:

Aphid Lion is the larval stage of the Lacewing

at first glance, it´s a fungus at the edge of a tangerine leaf, but suddenly you see that fungus has legs and walks quickly, always at the other side of the leafs or behind something. After some time, I got a picture of it´s head, with two sharp mandibles. Hummm . Then I took a closer look at the mess that it keeps in the back and realized that there are thousands of bodies of other animals, skeletons of animals that it hunts.

Habitat:

my tangerine tree

Notes:

the craziest hair design I´ve ever seen

Reference Links:

Chrysopidae

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (3)
Ashish
Kristal you are correct... Its called Aphid Lion or Lacewing larvae. http://ausgarden.com/garden/good-garden-bugs-photos
KristalWatrous
Some species of Neuroptera larvae cover themselves in lichen, debris, and even dead prey insects for camouflage. That's probably what this critter is, especially with mandibles like that. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroptera
Photographed
PublishedSeptember 15, 2011

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