Hangingflies

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Slender, long-legged insects that dangle from twigs and leaves by their front legs while they catch smaller prey
2. Delicate predatory insects in the family Bittacidae, which hang suspended from vegetation while hunting other insects
3. Long-legged, crane-fly-like insects that perch upside down from foliage and seize small prey with their forelegs

Etymology: "Hangingflies" is simply the plural of "hangingfly," the name for an insect of the family Bittacidae, which hangs from plants by its front legs while it hunts. The name is a plain compound of "hanging" and "fly," and the same pattern appears in Dutch, where "hangvlieg" describes the same insect. The two languages reached the name independently from ordinary words, so the match reflects a shared way of seeing the creature rather than any borrowing between them.