Friday, October 06, 2006

Photo Friday- Thin

By chance i took a photo of a jenny long legs the other day. It was quite a large one , with its spindly legs all stretched out and seemed like an ideal photo for the photo friday topic.

It seemd that my kids couldn't remember ever seeing one before, which surprised me. My son thought the jenny was a huge mosquito at first.

I had to spend some time expalining that Jenny long legs [scottish name] , daddy long legs, crane fly and lollygaggers are different names for the same insect.

They have very fragile thin legs that break off easily if someone or something tries to catch them, which is probably a survival mechanism.

Many people are scared of jenny long legs becuase they share a lot of spider attributes with a buzzy bumbly erratic flight -and bang against walls and windows in a peculiar manner.




A closer view of the Halteres- a pair of modified wings which are used to balance the insect in flight.


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4 comments:

natural attrill said...

I used to be scared of 'Daddy long legs' , that's what I have always called them. I am not so much anymore, same with spiders, I am ok with them now as long as they are not really big! A funny fear, not logical.

Penny.

angela said...

We seemed to have so many in the Spring coming into the house every time someone left the door open. I know nothing about them but assume conditions must be perfect for breeding. Just like now we're being tortured by mosquitoes.

Anonymous said...

All daddy longlegs have ears in their legs...
I trained one to walk forwards and backwards when I clicked my fingers.

when I pulled his legs off and tried clicking my fingers in the sound for forwards, he didn't move so obviously he could hear me.

:-)

Unknown said...

Wow, that is some amazing close up photography, Alison!