When I pulled these two from the archive, my first thoughts had to do with how awesome flight is, and I got to wondering about what sort of sequence of evolutionary events could lead to the development of flight. A title for this post that crossed my mind was "The Miracle of Flight." But I don't believe there's such as thing as miracles, just low probability events. But that doesn't make a very good title. I'm actually sick of the talk of miracles because I think that such a belief is an excuse to suspend thought. There are actually people in this world who believe rational thought is a trick of the devil. I'd say "to hell with such people" but I don't believe there's a hell either. Meanwhile, click on either of these photos for a closer view of one of the wonders of nature. The critter above of course is the familiar honey bee.
This one is a Dobsonfly, often found landing among willows and alders at streamside, but this one conveniently (for photographers) landed on the big green water tank above my house in Boyle Ravine.
I think that is a Snakefly. I found one that looks a lot like yours , also thought it was a Dobsonfly, but after googling and researching for a few days, it looks like its actually a Snakefly. Great shot though! This is a female Snakefly in the order Raphidioptera. Snakeflies are harmless predators and the stinger is actually the ovipositor of the female insect.
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