NYFalls.com Talk

No clue what these are. Not a fan of crawly buggy things. My guesses are......a baby snail and a giant terrorizing killer mosquito. How'd I do, Brenda?

Giant mosquito?
Must be a a Crane Fly, which have just as creepy larvae.

Well, I don't know much about snails other than that the large species are very tasty with garlic butter!

The other photo is a female crane fly, but I can't identify the exact species. Unlike female mosquitoes, they don't bite. That one may have been gathering some nectar, though feeding isn't the first thing on their minds at this stage of life. The larvae of some species can be a real pest though. Here's an interesting short Cornell News article about a couple of invasive species: http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Aug ... e.ssl.html

I absolutely LOVE that praying mantis, Shaye! Looks like he's saying "Peek-a-boo!"

Welcome to NYFalls - hope to see more of your photos soon!

Brenda wrote:I am SO bummed. I had a beautiful orb web spider (species unknown) at one of my guest cabins. She was off to the side of the front porch, and I noticed her while I was cleaning yesterday. I didn't have time to get a photo of her before our guests checked in, and guess what? When I went down there to take some photos of her while they were out and about today, both she and the web were gone.

I also had one last week and luckily I got a picture. Unfortunately it was very windy, not the best time for taking pictures of these small critters.
During the weekend I wanted to take a few more shots, but the spider was gone.
Normally I'm totally scared of spiders, but in my garden it is something different. They are outdoors and I don't have to see them if I don't want.
Hopefully I will get another chance for taking pictures of one of these creatures.




@ all:

your shots are all simply awesome.
I don't know which one I like most, they are all fantastic.