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identifying a Snakefly #866954

Asked May 03, 2024, 6:33 PM EDT

I'd love someone to contact me regarding how to take an Agulla to species.

Crook County Oregon

Expert Response

Hi Eric,
That's probably going to be difficult to key Agulla specimens to species. There are 17 species of Agulla in North America and 5 of those are known to occur in Oregon (A. adnixa, A. assimilis, A. bicolor, A. herbsti, and A. unicolor). 
If you can read German and you can get this publication, your best bet would be to get the 1974 thesis of Ulricke Aspock. Here is the citation...
Aspöck U. (1974) Die Raphidiopteren der Nearktis (Insecta, Neuropteroidea). Dissertation. Univ. Wien 1974: 1-238.
Two additional Agulla species have been described since Aspock's thesis was published, but neither of these have been found in Oregon.
If you don't read German or cannot get Aspock's thesis, the next best source in publication by Carpenter from 1936 (I'm attaching a copy here). The problem with this is that the species have been revised over time so not all the species names in this older publication are considered valid anymore, and 5 described Agulla species were not known in 1936.
Hope that helps at least give you some leads to follow...
Bill Gerth Replied May 09, 2024, 4:00 PM EDT

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