Bug FAQBlack-tipped Hangingfly
Hylobittacus apicalis · Order: Mecoptera · Family: Bittacidae
Adult black-tipped hangingflies are about 1.9 cm long and have two pairs of wings. They live among low herbaceous plants, are active during the day, and can be seen from late April to early August. They are common in the lower United States, especially Illinois, with an isolated population in Mexico.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
They have two pairs of wings and males and females differ in the shape of their abdominal segments.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Adults reach about 1.9 cm in body length.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
Adults are found around small herbaceous plants and are active in daylight.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
They catch a variety of prey, mainly non-insect invertebrates and insects, with Auchenorrhyncha being the most common.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
They undergo complete metamorphosis and have two pairs of wings as adults. Females lay on average 3.5 eggs.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Adults are present from late April through early August. Infection rates rise through summer, with females three times more infected than males.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
A separate, isolated population lives in Mexico.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 15 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Ohio, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Michigan, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Illinois.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
When can I see black-tipped hangingflies?
Adults are active from late April to early August.
Source: Wikipedia
Where are they found?
They are common in the lower United States, especially Illinois, with an isolated group in Mexico.
Source: Wikipedia
What do they eat?
Their diet consists mainly of non-insect invertebrates and insects, especially Auchenorrhyncha.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Bittacidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hylobittacus_apicalis
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-23.