Bug Bites #008 - Black-Winged Hangingfly (Hylobittacus apicalis)
Family: Hangingfly Family (Bittacidae)
IUCN Conservation Status: Unassessed
Carnivorous relatives of the similarly unusual scorpionflies and snow fleas, hangingflies are named for the unique and bizarre manner in which they catch their prey; spending most of their adult lives using their hooked forelimbs to hang from the leaves and stems of plants, their long hindlegs have developed into clawed appendages used to grab and impale smaller invertebrates that fly or crawl too close. Once prey is caught it can be lifted towards the head to be ground up by elongated an mouth ending in small-yet-powerful sharp-tipped mandibles, although males may also hang on to their speared prey and offer them to females as "nuptial gifts"; the larger the nuptial gift a male offers, the greater the chance that a female will accept his advances. Though a hangingfly's forelimbs are supremely well-adapted to hanging from leaves and its hindlimbs are sharp and powerful to aid in snagging passing prey neither are well-suited to supporting its weight when standing, and as a result many species are essentially unable unable to walk (instead moving between perches through slow, awkward flight.)
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