Europe and western Asia
Fine-art photographic collection
Phaeostigma notata
An ancient-looking predator whose larva hunts beneath bark and whose pupa can walk before becoming an adult.
About this species
Spotted Snakefly
Phaeostigma notata(Fabricius, 1781)
Information reviewed15 July 2026
Phaeostigma notata is a snakefly of wooded habitats. Larvae live beneath loose bark as predators, often developing for more than one year, while adults carry the characteristic elongated prothorax that gives snakeflies their name.
Taxonomy
Animalia · Arthropoda · Insecta · Raphidioptera · Raphidiidae · Phaeostigma
Accepted taxon. · checked 2026-07-15
Europe and western AsiaBroad range and selected reference localities — not a complete occurrence map.
Woodland, old trees and scrub with loose bark and abundant small arthropods.
Adults are active in warm daylight during late spring and summer.
Larvae and adults prey on small insects and other arthropods.
Solitary.
What makes this species remarkable?
The larva spends one or commonly two winters hunting in the paper-thin world beneath loose bark before it is ready to transform.
Unlike the immobile pupae of many insects, a snakefly pupa can walk and reposition itself before climbing out for the final moult.
The female’s long ovipositor threads eggs deep into bark crevices, placing the next generation directly inside a hidden hunting ground.
More photographs
9