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
June 10, 2002.
And
the answer is....
This unusual insect is a phantom cranefly.
Craneflies, a previous
What is it Wednesday feature, are pretty common around Lutherlyn. We often find
their larva in the stream during creek critters/stream study activities, and
the harmless adult fly that looks like a large floppy mosquito hangs around
near lights at night in the summer time.
The phantom cranefly is related, but a
little different.
The body of the phantom cranefly is very thin and light, and it has
tiny wings. This is because it barely flies, but mostly travels by floating on
the breeze. Its legs are thin and hollow, while its feet are enlarged and
filled with air pockets, making it light enough to drift through the air with
barely any effort, and to float on the surface of the water.
This is useful, because its habitat is the shady edges of freshwater
wetlands. The
phantom cranefly’s black and white feet and thinness of
body and legs also make it extra difficult to spot in the dappled sunlight of
wetlands. The name “phantom” presumably refers to both its near invisibility, and
the way it drifts by like a ghost. You have to be attentive to slight changes
in light and motion to notice a phantom cranefly! (or get lucky and have one
land on your window frame, like in this picture)
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!
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