JERICHO, Vt. - This week's Invertebrate Spotlight features “Tiny Shoveler” & “No Winter Appetite”
Winter Crane Fly, aka “Tiny Shoveler” (Genus Trichocera)
“Winter Crane Flies overwinter as adults, mostly males, and can be seen on warmer sunny days in winter. Although they look like big mosquitoes, they do not bite or sting. In summer, their larvae live in moist areas, feeding on decaying plant material.” - Be a Winter Insect Hunter, Lynnwood Andrews.
Snow Flies, aka “No Winter Appetite” Genus Chionea
These wingless insects can be observed walking on the snow in the afternoon in lightly forested areas. The adults live for up to two months, and produce glycerol to prevent freezing. They drink, but do not eat. - Be a Winter Insect Hunter, Lynnwood Andrews. View photos.
Read more at
Where Do Insects Go in Winter By Declan McCabe
Sex and Flight in the Cold by Bryan Pfeiffer
"Name an Insect" program where you can submit names for insects across the state. Do you have a nickname for a particular insect? Send it to me along with the insect's common or Latin name and I might post it on "bugeyedbernie Insect Spotlight".
Nature will bear the closest inspection. She invites us to lay our eye level with her smallest leaf, and take an insect view of its plain.
Henry David Thoreau
