Glacier insect
Aloha Bug-people:
Thanks again for the help with the Passionvine Hopper nymph last year. I have another mystery. Attached image is of an insect found while trekking on top of the Perito Moreno Glacier, Patagonia, Argentina. Length about 3/4 inch. Our guide told us these were discovered on the glacier, but he did not know a name for them. Searched your site of course, but the only thing with a similar structure was a Timema. I have read that sprintails have been known to live on glaciers as well, but they are much smaller to my knowledge. Sorry for the poor image. Had to shoot handheld without my tripod, and the little guy was moving. Kind regards,
Don Brown
Hi Don,
This looks like a Snowfly, a group of Stoneflies in the family Capniidae, the Small Winter Snowflies. Some are winged and some are not.
I’m not en expert, but I think it probably is an Andiperla willinki. Wikipedia doesn’t seem to have an article in English. Here’s the Spanish one: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andiperla_willinki
Thanks for the information.