Subject: What bug is this?
Location: Bracklinn Falls, Callander, Scotland, UK
May 27, 2017 6:35 am
Hi there.
My friend saw this bug while out walking and was wondering what exactly it is. I think it looks like some sort of earwig or mantis but I honestly have no idea. It has six legs, medium-long antenna at the back and short ones at the front, black and white with stripes on its back and it doesn’t appear to have wings. It’s currently Summer and I believe it was around the Bracklinn Falls area in Callander.
Signature: Lauren Pearson
Dear Lauren,
We are surmising that Bracklinn Falls means a waterfall on a stream or river. This is the exuvia or cast-off exoskeleton of a Stonefly, an aquatic nymph that eventually develops into a winged adult. Here is a FlickR image of a Scottish Stonefly nymph and here is an image of an adult Stonefly from Encyclopedia of Life.