Split-eyed Owlfly
S1, Male, dorsal
Ellura
Split-eyed Owlfly
S3, Female, dorsal
 
                      
Split-eyed Owlfly (Megacmonotus magnus)Class: Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta)
Order: Net-winged Insects (Neuroptera)
Family: Owlfly (Ascalaphidae)     iNaturalist Observation
Species: Split-eyed Owlfly (Megacmonotus magnus)
This Photo:     🔍S2, Female, dorsal🔎

Thank you John Luck for confirming the id of this species for us

General Species Information:
Found on Ellura (in the Murray Mallee, SA) and elsewhere
This has to be the platypus of the insect world. Damselfly wings & tail, butterfly head & antennae and massive eyes from who knows where.
Thank you to Ken Harris for pointing out this specimen is a male. Ken said "Only the male has the forked and tufted prominence on a front segment of its abdomen"

Copyright © 2021-2024 Brett & Marie Smith. All Rights Reserved. Photographed 23-Mar-2021
This species is an Australian Native Species, not listed in the SA Murray Mallee Survey of 2010.