insect indentification

the following page contains an insect identification key, along with instructions on how to use it.

http://www.earthlife.net/insects/orders-key.html

You may need to look up a little insect physiology to determine the anatomical parts that some of the questions refer to. I can't see enough in the picture to go through it myself.

The closest I was able to get was order Odonata-dragonflies, damselflies etc

thank you much Wilso. I'm still not satisfied, even after pursuing some of the possibilities from the key on google image search. I have found several things that it is not, however. This may prove useful. I am checking into damselfly (again) and lacewing varieties. Thanks for the link.

Could be a lacewing (neuroptera I believe). How big is your specimen?

I'd say it was about 3", head to wing-tip. 1.25" at widest point of resting wings. I would guess around 4.5" wingspan. Slow flapping and moving.

I had walked around a tree and it apparently thought is could be a danger so it flew from it's resting place to the other side of the same tree. I walked back around the look at it, and there it stayed for several pics. some taken (above included) within 2-4 inches. While rotating my focus ring, i accidentally brushed it and it flew back to the other side and higher, out of reach. I was satisfied with my photos and let it be.

I haven't found a variation of Neuroptera that is quite like it. It does fall in most of the catagories, usually an exception somewhere though. With it's size, it is not a typical lacewing, .........WAIT!

AH HA. This looks like it! An antlion, finally a matching photo.


at
http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~insects/quest3.htm

It is a bad picture but, certainly the same creature.

I believe we have a winner. And now we know the rest of the story. (<sorry, lack of sleep) I swear the measurements i read for them were "up to 1.5" ".

Thanks for your help, you deserve a raise.