So Monday I’m driving along, not very fast, and there’s a thump on the windshield, and when I locate it, all I can see is two big dragonfly wings sticking out from my side across the windshield. It was a sad, because I like dragonflies. Kept hoping it was just clinging on and would fly away when I came to a stop… didn’t.
For some reason, I forgot about it when I got home.
Early Tuesday evening, I go out and there’s the wings and the 'fly, so I go *ooo ick *and gently tug it out from the deep crevice between the glass and the trim. And damn if it doesn’t uncurl and start flexing its wings.
I was in a hurry, so I found a safe place to put it down and made the pizza run. It was gone when I got back, and a quick search of the area this morning didn’t find it. So good on ya, ya tough bug ya.
I just feel bad about leaving it there for over a day…
Nope. In Louisiana, “skeeter hawk” was the common name for crane flies (though they were occasionally called some variant on “gallinapper” instead). They resemble giant mosquitoes and are probably the source of some of the stories about outsized mosquitoes in some places. Regrettably, the claim that they eat mosquitoes is not true.
Also, they are not nearly as tough as dragonflies.
I love dragon flies (I even got one tattooed on my upper back). They are completely alien-looking, predatory, but also so beautiful. Fragile-looking, but tough.
We called crane flies skeeter eaters because Pops said that’s what they did.
I also like the dragonflies. At my previous apartment there was a small lawn out front that is hemmed in by the apartment building on two sides, some trees on another side and the parking lot on the other. I used to enjoy sitting out there on a nice summer day. One day I noticed a one of those big dragonflies about ten-twelve feet up patrolling the lawn with almost a military precision. Zzzzt, 90-degree (or thereabouts) turn at the edge of the lawn, zzzzt, 90-degree turn and so on, with the occasional swoop up or down as a meal-on-wings presented itself. It was quite fascinating. I always made it a point to watch for them whenever I was out there thereafter.
Have any of you called or heard the smaller blue ones being called Devil’s darning needles? Pops told us when we were young that if you told a lie a Devil’s darning needle would come an sew up your mouth while you were asleep. We knew he was teasing but I gather he was told that when he, himself, was young.
A while back, I saw a small (nickle sized) florescent green spider clinging to the outside of my drivers side window. I went about my business, which was driving 20ish miles down 60MPH roads. Now, I hate spiders, but this little guy just held on. And held on. One leg at a time released, until he was hanging on by two legs. I finally took pity on the poor bastard and pulled over to let him off. He was fine.