This crane fly was hanging from the ceiling in my kitchen. The little structure apparently protruding from the back of its thorax, and looking like the head of a golf club, is one of the fly’s halteres. These are the vestigial second pair of wings (most adult insects have two pairs of wings); in true flies (Diptera), the second pair of wings has evolved into these structures, which help stabilise the insect while it’s flying.
All content © 2009 Pete McGregor
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4 comments:
I love your insect photos. You certainly make me see insects in a different way!
Thanks Anne-Marie.It's good to be able to show others just how spectacular and fascinating these little animals really are.
I kind of love these crane flies! My mother calls them "mosquito eaters" and I remember seeing a lot of them growing up in California. Some, but not as many, here in Seattle in the summer.
Hi Christy. I'd heard of that term for them, and I particularly like the colloquial version: "skeeter-eaters", even if it is misleading. As far as I know, it's not used here; most people just call them "daddy longlegs", which is confusing because it's also used for harvestmen and the spider Pholcus phalangioides.
Crane flies are fascinating :^)
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