it looks like a Dragonfly...but it's not. it had a black body, and possibly what looked like a stinger on it's tail. it's legs looked almost spider like and it appeared to have possibly 6 or 8 legs. it's wings resembled that of a Dragonfly. really creepy looking! my boyfriend said it's a "Flycatcher". does anyone know the correct name for this bug?
2007-08-10 08:09:29 · 5 answers · asked by l33ta66 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Zoology
It may be a damselfly which have wings similar to a dragonfly but are together at the origin
http://images.google.com/images?q=damselfly+picture&hl=en&rlz=1T4GGIH_enUS229US229&um=1&sa=X&oi=images&ct=title
It could also be antlion or snakefly
this site has pictures by category
http://www.whatsthatbug.com/
2007-08-10 08:27:43 · answer #1 · answered by xanadu625 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It might be an adult "ant lion". The larva digs a pit in the sand to trap ants. Adults are dark in color and fold their wings over their backs. Aside from this, they look very much like small dragonflies. No insect has eight legs and nothing with eight legs flies (there are no spiders with wings, which is probably a good thing).
2007-08-10 08:16:38 · answer #2 · answered by Roger S 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sounds like it might have been a cranefly - large ones can be black, and have large wings. They are harmless - no stinger.
http://www.scientificillustrator.com/art/insects/cranefly.jpg
Or it may have been an owlfly. They look a bit more like a dragonfly. Again harmless - no stinger.
http://www.treknature.com/gallery/Middle_East/Turkey/photo22916.htm
There are also big black wasps that it might have been. Some of these can sting (but rarely do).
http://web.mit.edu/cfox/www/livejournal-links/black-and-yellow-mud-dauber.jpg
UPDATE:
Ah, yes. Roger S is right, an adult ant-lion is another good possibility.
http://fireflyforest.net/images/firefly/2005/November/antlion.jpg
2007-08-10 08:18:31 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
I'm wondering if you haven't got a Crane Fly. There are several possibilities besides that, but Crane Flies are what usually get people nervous, for some reason. They're completely harmless, and are also sometimes called "mosquito hawks", even though they don't catch mosquitos.
Edit - ha! haysoos got in there a little quicker!
2007-08-10 08:21:09 · answer #4 · answered by John R 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Wow, this must have been a good question as you have gotten all real answers.
Every single one of them is viably correct.
Being that you saw a stinger, I am going to go with the wasp answer.
2007-08-10 13:02:55 · answer #5 · answered by chahn11 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋