1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Snake-fly

SNAKE-FLY, the name given to neuropterous insects of the genus Raphidia, closely allied to the alder-flies, remarkable for the elongation of the head and prothorax to form a neck and for the presence in the female of a long ovipositor. The larva, which is active and carnivorous, is terrestrial, and lives in rotten timber.