You expect to see insects in your house during winter, but outside? Actually, there are a surprising number of insects, covering a wide variety of groups that are active in the cold, especially now. While it may seem counterproductive to evolve and finish their development in the winter, the advantage is that there are few predators around then.
If you have seen what looks like pepper on the snow and it's moving, you are not going gaga. What you are seeing are snow fleas. It is not really a flea but a springtail. They are wingless so they get around by walking or jumping. True fleas jump with their back legs. Snow fleas use an appendage located under the abdomen, called a furcula to spring. This furcula is locked into place like a snap trap. When they release it, they jump up and forward. Since they are only about 1/10 of an inch long, and dark they look like pepper on the snow. These creatures feed on microscopic fungi, algae and decaying organic matter. You can often see them around the base of trees.
The scorpion fly is a small, dark colored 1/8 of an inch long insect. It's not a true fly. It gets its name because the male has a bulbous tail that curves over its body, so it looks like a real scorpion. They have pronounced beaks and are wingless. They finish their development in the winter and can be found on moss where both the adults and larvae feed.
If you think you have seen a mosquito in the winter, you haven't. You've seen a Crane fly. These flies are described as wingless and spider-like and are active during cold weather. They are also called snowflies for obvious reasons. They are dark and about 1/8 to 3/16th inch long. Have you ever wondered who has to measure bugs? Bet it's not the scientist studying the critter. The summer Crane flies only live for about a week or 10 days. Their winter cousins can survive for two months. We don't know what the adults eat but suspect that the larva feed in rodent burrows on the rodent feces.
One winter insect has wings. The winter stone fly is winged. This small insect is dark, it has a flattened body and too long antenna in the front and too long tails on its backside. The four wings are kept folded behind them over the abdomen. As an immature nymph, this insect lives in the water, especially in spring fed trout streams where they feed on plant material. Usually, the nymphs hatch in the spring but are inactive most of the summer. They become active in the fall and complete their development in the winter or early spring. The adults don't eat.
Another mosquito look-alike is the Chironomid Midge. They are true flies and don't bite people. There are at least 11 species of these flies that are active in Minnesota in the winter. The adults can emerge almost any time of the year except summer. They are most common in the late fall and during the winter and early spring. The most common types spend most of their time as larvae usually in ground water fed streams. These streams are cool in the summer and remain relatively warm during the winter. The larva feed on algae and microbes growing on rocks, wood and other stuff in the water. Adults emerge during warm winter days and swarm in order to mate. They live about three weeks and don't feed. There are summer cousins only live a few days.
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