Monday, July 16, 2007

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? UPDATE

So, I did a little research, and it turns out that although the jurassic-looking bug that was on our patio door was very scary to look at, she was harmless, and sadly probably didn't live much longer than that night. She was a female Dobsonfly (or fishfly). They're native to north america, mostly in the states I think, and spend the majority of their life cycle (like 2 or 3 YEARS!) underwater in the larval stage eating minnows and tadpoles, then they come to shore to pupate. Once they emerge, they mate and the female lays eggs, then they die. That's probably why she was pretty slow to move and didn't fly away. Apparently the're pretty rare to see, so maybe we should have caught her, but there was NO WAY I was touching that beast! Well, that has been your science and nature lesson for the week...

4 comments:

Johanne said...

All this nice information does not make her more appealing unfortunatly ... BEURK... Interresting life though... short but to the point !

Tania said...

thanks for the science class! Very interesting indeed!

vroumvroum said...

Your a very good scientific teacher but I still hate those kind of bugs!!!

Kawine said...

hey thanks!!
je vais me coucher moins niaiseuse ce soir! ha ha ha!!