What is it Wednesday: May 29, 2019

Can you identify what's in this photo?

Each Wednesday morning 

on Camp Lutherlyn's Facebook page

 the Lutherlyn Environmental Education Program posts a photo. 

Readers have all morning and afternoon 

to make their best guess about what the photo is. 

Around 6 pm LEEP provides the answer and a brief explanation.

Each week's What is it Wednesday post 

will also be posted on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

 after it is posted on Facebook,

sometimes with additional bonus information. 

In addition to bringing you current editions of What is it Wednesday 

on the Nature of Lutherlyn blog, 

we will be reposting old editions,

creating a What is it Wednesday archive. 

This photo was posted as a What is it Wednesday on 

May 29, 2019. 

And the answer is....

This big floppy flying insect is not a giant mosquito, it’s a crane fly. 

They are sometimes seen gathering around lights at night in the summertime, or floating around the forest, and they are harmless – they can’t bite or sting. 

We often see crane fly larvae during stream studies – although the adults live on land and fly in the air, the larvae live in the water. The larvae are one of our favorite “creepy-cool” things to find in the stream – they are a large white segmented “worm” about the size of a finger, and often do a wiggly “dance” in the water.

Stream studies are probably the number one most popular LEEP activity! To find out how you can be a part of a stream study at summer camp, a school field trip, or other special events, check out www.lutherlyn.com/ee .

Like and follow Camp Lutherlyn on Facebook, to see What is it Wednesday posts when they come out and have the opportunity to share your guesses in the comments!