Ed. Note: February 28, 2010
Selecting the Bug of the Month each month is always a careful decision, and we like to try to select a recent submission that is timely in its appearance. Insects that appear while there is still snow on the ground are unusual, but not at all rare. This Snowfly is a creature that may be encountered by a sizable portion of our readership in the coming month.
Snow bugs?
February 24, 2010
Sorry to bug you all again (pun not intended, I assure you!)
But today at the river getting some photos of the snow, I saw these black things scurrying across the top. On a closer look, I noticed they were some kind of flying insect. Some were hitching a ride on another (or mating, not sure). I was careful not to step on any of them. (I hope I didn’t!). I’m sorry the photos aren’t great, but I don’t have the right lens for that. To be honest, they looked like miniature Dobson flies! Some were about almost an inch long. They were only at the river. What are these little guys?
Thanks a bunch, Terra
River, Massachusetts
Snowfly
Hi Terra,
Despite the snow, many insects are active during the winter months. In the winter we frequently get images like yours of Snowflies, a group of Winter Stoneflies in the family Capniidae. Though we do not refrain from posting photos that our readership takes during the summer months when the short cold days of winter allow people kept people indoors to work on the computer more, we much prefer timely postings like yours. According to BugGuide Snowfly: “nymphs live beneath rocks and gravel on the bottom of streams and rivers adults are often seen on snow, or resting on concrete bridges over streams” which explains your sighting near the water in the snow. We wish you had provided an image of a mating pair for our Bug Love section. One of your images contains a tiny Springtail in the genus Hypogastrura, and the species that are found on the snow are known as Snow Fleas. You may read more about these in our archive as well as on BugGuide.
Snowfly and Snow Flea
Wow! Thank you so much for the fast reply! I’m quite interested to hear more about these guys- they’re quite cute!
I’ll have to have a read on them, thank you!
(And sorry for the quality of the images- it was dark out!)
Ed. Note: After posting this letter and photos, a second photo of a Snowfly resulted in a request from the Xerces Society to use the image in an Endangered Species Act petition . Read about that here.
Bug on Wet Wood
January 23, 2010
We pulled a stick out of the river while camping at the Great Basin National Park, and there were these bugs all over the stick.
Tyson Cramer
Great Basin National Park in Nevada
Mayfly Naiad
Hi Tyson,
Thanks for sending us such detailed images of Stonefly Naiads. We are going to post all three of them because it is nice to have them clinging to their habitat.
Mayfly Naiad
According to the University of Kentucky Entomology website: “Stonefly naiads occur in fast moving streams where they are most commonly found clinging to the undersides of rocks. Many stonefly naiads are predators, feeding on other aquatic arthropods. Naiads of other species eat plants and algae. Although stonefly naiads were once very common in streams, they are very sensitive to pollution. These days, stonefly naiads are only common in very clean water. Stonefly adults can’t fly very well, and are usually found sitting on rocks near the streams where they emerged. Many stonefly adults do not feed, others feed on algae, pollen, or other plant parts. Stoneflies are a very important food source for fish and birds, and they are also eaten by spiders and predatory insects.”
Mayfly Naiad
What kind of bug?
December 15, 2009
These bugs are hanging around our doorways, usually on the porch ceiling and they drop down on you when you walk outside. They are even out when the temp goes below freezing. They started about the first of November and are still here. What are they and how do I get rid of them? Thanks,
Dan Hoffer
Southwestern Pennsylvania
Small Winter Stonefly or Snowfly
Dear Dan,
We are very excited to receive your letter, and we think it may make an excellent candidate for our Bug of the Month for January. This is a Small Winter Stonefly in the family Capniidae, commonly called a Snowfly. According to BugGuide, the “family is distributed throughout much of North America but many species have restricted geographic ranges, and are endemic to relatively small areas” so we are reluctant to try to identify the species, or even the genus. It may also be a Winter Stonefly in the family Taeniopterygidae, also called a Snowfly and also depicted on BugGuide. We will contact Eric Eaton to see if he can be more specific. BugGuide also indicates: “The defining need of winter stonefly nymphs is for very high levels of oxygen in the water. Warm temperatures, excessive organic matter, and many pollutants all reduce oxygen levels. The result: they’re only active in the coldest part of the year and are very sensitive to pollution. Their main interest to humans is as an indicator species: you can tell that water is unpolluted if stoneflies live there. They also provide food for trout – though not as much as species active when trout are themselves more active in warmer parts of the year.”
Small Winter Stonefly or Snowfly
Confirmation from Eric Eaton
Hi:
You are correct with the family, Capniidae, known as “small winter stoneflies.” The genus is probably Allocapnia, but I am not an expert in aquatic insects and can’t be totally certain. The presence of large numbers of these should be taken as a “good” sign!
Eric
¶ Posted 16 December 2009 § ‡ ° Interesting Long Black Bug
July 18, 2009
Thanks for taking a look at this bug. It was hanging out on the side of our house, and wasn’t afraid when I brought the camera lens up close. It must have been at least two inches long, and that may have been just the body length. It was late spring. I have higher resolution pictures if required.
Shilo
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Salmonfly
Hi Shilo,
This is a Giant Stonefly or Salmonfly in the genus Pteronarcys. There is a matching photo on BugGuide also from Alberta Canada.
¶ Posted 19 July 2009 § ‡ ° I found this bug, would love to know what it is
Tue, Jun 2, 2009 at 12:53 PM
Me and the kids stopped off by a mountain stream at the bottom of helvellyn in the lake district on sunday and there were lots of these creatures on the rocks around the water, i would appriciate your help in finding out what type of “thing” it is – it resembled something like a flat grass hopper/ over grown earwig crossed with a scorpion, it didnt have a sting but had quite large mouth/biting bit – ithey were a good 2″ long and not particualrly friendly looking
jodie lee
lake district
Stonefly Naiad
Hi Jodie,
This is the aquatic nymph of the Giant Stonefly known as a naiad. Presumably it has crawled from the stream, will soon molt its exoskeleton, and become a winged adult. Adult Giant Stoneflies do not feed, but are relished by trout, other fish, birds and many riparian predators. Anglers use both larval and adult Giant Stoneflies as bait. We have recently posted a photo of an adult Giant Stonefly for comparison. You photo and letter will not go live on our site until Tuesday at noon. We have been preparing posts to update one a day while we are out of the office planting tomatoes.
¶ Posted 09 June 2009 § ‡ ° 7th grade river walk this afternoon, …
Wed, Jun 3, 2009 at 3:22 PM
Left us wondering “who” this is. It was stationary, hanging onto the side of a small tree, 15 feet from the river that runs behind our school in VT. It looked to be 2 – 2.5 inches long.
Lisa
North Central VT, a couple of miles from the base of Mt Mansfield.
Giant Stonefly
Hi Lisa,
This is a Giant Stonefly in the family Pteronarcyidae. The aquatic nymphs have gills and are found in streams and rivers and they eat aquatic vegetation. We recently received an ID request that we did not post of a nymph, and we are going to try to locate it in the labyrinth of our email inbox. Adult Giant Stoneflies do not feed. Fishermen are fond of Giant Stoneflies as bait for trout and other freshwater fish. You may learn more about Giant Stoneflies on BugGuide. We are preparing your letter and photo in advance to post live to our site on Monday at noon since we will be out of the office for a week and not answering any new incoming mail. We feel an obligation to our regular readership to continue to update on a daily basis in absentia.
¶ Posted 08 June 2009 § ‡ ° Odd Spokane Resident
Sat, Dec 20, 2008 at 10:12 PM
Odd Spokane Resident
While tilling a flower bed this last summer (May/June), my wife found this bug under a top covering of pine needles. I have never seen anything like this.
It has a beautiful black with orange outlines. Its wings are huge!
Spencer Morley
Spokane, WA, USA
Giant Stonefly
Hi Spencer,
This is a Giant Stonefly in the family Pteronarcyidae. According to information posted to BugGuide, we believe this is probably a California Salmonfly, Pteronarcys californica . BugGuide indicates: “The California Salmonfly ( Pteronarcys californica ) is common in western United States and southwestern Canada; it is an important food of trout and salmon, and a favorite bait of anglers.” These aquatic insects are often attracted to lights.
¶ Posted 22 December 2008 § ‡ ° dobson-fly? With Orange neck?
Found on the side of a building by the New Brunswick/Maine border. After looking at your site I believe this might be a type of Dobson Fly, cigar shaped body, 4 inches in length, clear wings. There does not appear to be mandibles and unlike the pictures on your website this one has a flourescent orange neck. Hoping you can open the attachments! Same one in both pics! Sorry about the poor quality!
This is a Common Stonefly in the family Perlidae. BugGuide has images, including one with a ruler showing the size 4 inches, and one showing the orange color of the neck, and they identify the genus as Perlesta or perhaps Pteronarcys pictetii. While we can’t exactly confirm the genus or species, we are confident this is a Common Stonefly.
¶ Posted 12 June 2008 § ‡ ° 
rss
I like This
