mecoptera
awild | December 10, 2008
Apterobittacus apterus, California
I lived in California until a few years ago, and one thing I enjoyed about the Golden State was the unique insect fauna, full of bizarre and relictual creatures. One of the oddities was the wingless hangingfly, a leggy mecopteran that lurks in the coastal grasslands.
The insect above was photographed indoors. I made a makeshift studio out of various bits of debris lying around the lab: a matte black notebook for a backdrop, a jar to hold the grass upright, and the white lid to a styrofoam cooler propped a few inches above the insect. An off-camera…