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Snakefly

Insects

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Snakeflies are a group of predatory insects comprising the order Raphidioptera, named from the Ancient Greek words for needle and wing, with two extant families, Raphidiidae and Inocelliidae, consisting of roughly 260 species. Found in temperate regions worldwide but absent from the tropics and the Southern Hemisphere, snakeflies are a relict group that reached their peak diversity during the Cretaceous before undergoing substantial decline; recognizable representatives of the group first appeared in the Early Jurassic.

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