You know how we've always feared what would happen if spiders got wings?

[vaskidmark]

http://phys.org/news/2014-07-museum-workers-pronounce-dobsonfly-china.html

The largest specimens in the found group had a wingspan of 21 centimeters, making it large enough to cover the entire face of a human adult.

Wonder what running into one of those things on a motorcycle would be like.  As i a very perverse curiosity but I'm not volunteering to find out.

Locals don't have to worry too much about injury from the insects, however, as officials from the museum report that larger males' mandibles are so huge in proportion to their bodies that they are relatively weak—incapable of piercing human skin. They can kick up a stink, however, as they are able to spray an offensive odor when threatened.

Lovely.  Just effin' lovely.

Also, despite the fact that they look an awful lot like dragonflies, they are more closely related to fishflies. The long mandibles, though scary looking to humans, are actually used for mating—males use them to show off for females, and to hold them still during copulation.

You look as ugly as that and you'd need something to hold down a female, too.

Interestingly, while their large wings (commonly twice their body length) make for great flying, they only make use of them for about a week—the rest of their time alive as adults is spent hiding under rocks or moving around on or under the water.

So do they hide under rocks because they know they are ugly, or are they ugly beause of hiding under rocks?  (At this point, what difference does it make?)

stay safe.

[MechAg94]

The dobsonfly is noteworthy among wildlife specialists and ecologists because of its preference for very clean water—high or low pH levels drive them away, as do many pollutants. Thus, they can be used as a natural measurement tool for water cleanliness in certain areas.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2014-07-museum-workers-pronounce-dobsonfly-china.html#jCp

So, has China killed them all yet?

[230RN]

Reminds me of Crane Flies, which look like giant mosquitos but don't even bite.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RFUBqileph0/TGgMRQLrIjI/AAAAAAAABQ4/MrMW7AsDMXs/s1600/cranefly-hand.jpg

When you see one, your first reaction is it'll drain a pint of blood out of you.

[freakazoid]

Reminds me of Crane Flies, which look like giant mosquitos but don't even bite.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RFUBqileph0/TGgMRQLrIjI/AAAAAAAABQ4/MrMW7AsDMXs/s1600/cranefly-hand.jpg

When you see one, your first reaction is it'll drain a pint of blood out of you.

Those things always freak me out.

The dobsonfly is noteworthy among wildlife specialists and ecologists because of its preference for very clean water—high or low pH levels drive them away, as do many pollutants. Thus, they can be used as a natural measurement tool for water cleanliness in certain areas.

Comment from the comment section,
"Oh god. Pollute all the water, just keep that thing away from me!"

[RoadKingLarry]

So, has China killed them all yet?

I'm sure someone has a recipe.

[Sergeant Bob]

Reminds me of Crane Flies, which look like giant mosquitos but don't even bite.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RFUBqileph0/TGgMRQLrIjI/AAAAAAAABQ4/MrMW7AsDMXs/s1600/cranefly-hand.jpg

When you see one, your first reaction is it'll drain a pint of blood out of you.

I've always wondered what those were called. At some point in my youth, I heard them referred to as "mosquito eaters", though I've no idea why they were called that. Don't think they are equipped to do so.

[fifth_column]

I've always wondered what those were called. At some point in my youth, I heard them referred to as "mosquito eaters", though I've no idea why they were called that. Don't think they are equipped to do so.

I learned they were called "mosquito hawks" and eat mosquitoes.  But according to wikipedia: 

The larvae of some species are carnivorous on other small invertebrates, sometimes including mosquito larvae. Many adults, however, have such short life spans that they do not eat at all.

[230RN]

Y'know how you think of a joke or a clever saying or find a juicy bit of trivia?  And you wait and hope, maybe for years, for an opportunity to come up to use it?

When I worked in Denver, there was a lot of construction going on, with those big tall cranes all over the place and we used to take our breaks on one particularly shady side of the building where we could watch the construction.

http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1046/1423962524_3ce0b465c8_z.jpg

Anyhow, so one day I'm out there all alone, watching them hoist stuff up to the top of the building a-borning, and lo !, I spot a Crane Fly on our building's wall, probably dead. Just sat there, stuck to the wall.

Oh, how I wished and wanted for a compatriot to come out so I could point at the new building and ask, "Want to see a crane fly?"

"Huh, what?"

And then turn around and point to the insect.

I waited and waited for someone to come out and join me.

Didn't happen.

Source of great, ongoing, frustration ever since.  Still roils around in my brain whenever I see another one of those bugs.

'Splains a lot about me.

Me go now.

I'm not signing this one so nobody will know who posted it.

[fifth_column]

Let it go man, let it go . . . .

[AJ Dual]

Waiting patiently, like the hunter over a good setup for a joke or a pun is the sign of the born comedian.

So is doing any and every last weird ass off-the-wall thing that comes into your head, as long as it entertains YOU, Andy Kaufman/Honey Badger style. 

[230RN]

Waiting patiently, like the hunter over a good setup for a joke or a pun is the sign of the born comedian.

So is doing any and every last weird ass off-the-wall thing that comes into your head, as long as it entertains YOU, Andy Kaufman/Honey Badger style.  

Yeah, I know, I know... mea culpa.

(Not that I'm the only one.)

Terry