Definition of snake fly in English:

noun

• A slender woodland insect with transparent wings and a long ‘neck’ which allows the head to be raised above the body.

  Family Raphidiidae, order Neuroptera: Raphidia and other genera

  More example sentences

  • ‘Some other desert insects we've come across include the ant-lion, darkling beetle, velvet-ant and snake fly.’
  • ‘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.’
  • ‘Considered by some scientists to be a suborder within Neuroptera, snake flies (also called camel-neck flies) are amongst the most primitive of insects, probably arising as early as 300 million years ago.’