forest hut

Milatropidae slagiodia

• Size: 8 to 10 cm tip to tail, wingspan around the same
• Voice: A quick series of clicks, mostly heard at night. Otherwise silent throughout the day.
• Status: Common – uncertain
• Diet: Carnivore – Small insects to big beetles
• Family Origin: Milatropidae
• Speed: 20 kmph at maximum
• Habitat: Mature rainforests
• Characteristics: Its wings are yellow with a pinkish tip from inside, & olive from outside. It also has a sting which it uses for defence. All six of its legs have spines on them (unlike a mantis whose only front two legs have spines) which it uses to hold its prey. Its sting also lights up in the dark, the light attracts moths which it quickly grabs & eats. It has no antennas, so it uses its amazing eyesight (while a butterfly is nearsighted).

Its hunting habit is very peculiar for it first spreads sticky saliva on flowers which attract insects. The insects come there & get stuck there. Then the spitlefly flies over & captures its prey & eats it. It is sometimes mistaken for a huge butterfly. The Spitlefly never sleeps.