Hi everyone, I know it’s short notice, but I wanted to let you know about a couple upcoming webinars I’m giving, in case you’re interested in joining. The first is really short notice – it’s tomorrow (May 27) at 10:30 AM Central Time.

For that first presentation, I’ll be talking about building ecological resilience in prairies. The primary audience includes people associated with the Prairie Corridor Project – a great effort to create a trail and series of natural areas outside Lincoln, Nebraska. However, they said I could invite others to join. Who better to invite than all my friends who read this blog? If you’re interested in joining, here is the information you’ll need (Not sure if you’ll need the meeting ID and password.) Meeting ID: 935 3210 5163 Password: 076725 https://unl.zoom.us/j/93532105163?pwd=MzZ6WHpEMWJLZ3JFSDNVbGF4cGxXdz09

The second presentation is next week on June 3 and is a short photography workshop. It’s intended to help people better understand how their camera makes images and how to use that knowledge to advantage. It should apply to people using any kind of camera – even if it’s just the one on your phone. You can read more about the presentation and learn how to join at this link. The photography talk is part of a series presented by The Nature Conservancy in Nebraska. You can see the other options here.

Since many of us are living on Zoom, Skype, or other platforms these days, I’ve wondered if there would be interest in me providing live presentations (potentially recorded for others to watch later) aimed at the readers of this blog. I’m worried that people are so overwhelmed by these kinds of remote meetings and webinars that the thought of adding one more to their lives seems crazy. I guess I’ll just ask. Is this something you’d be interested in? If so, leave me a note in the comments section, along with a topic you’d be interested in. I’ll see what the response looks like and then make plans accordingly.

Sorry for filling up space with all that. I was actually intending to write a short note about a neat little invertebrate you might be seeing near you right now. (Maybe RIGHT BEHIND YOU! – or not)

The daddy long-legs, aka harvestman, is not a spider, even though it has 8 legs. It’s related, but different. One big difference is that it has only two eyes, which are perched up on top of its body like a cockpit on a science fiction mechanical vehicle. This common resident in many people’s gardens, neighborhoods, and even houses/apartments, is a fascinating – and harmless – creature that is often misunderstood.

Harvestmen are automatically disliked by some people because they look so much like spiders. Telling someone that a harvestman is not technically a spider doesn’t seem to be very effective when that person is staring in fear and disgust at a (relatively) big creature with eight very long legs. Whether or not the harvestman is dangerous (it’s not) doesn’t really matter at that point either.

However, that part about being dangerous is important. Because it is known colloquially as a daddy long-legs, it is often confused with other creatures that go by the same name. One of those is a cellar spider in Australia with the reputation as having the most potent venom in the world, or something crazy like that. In fact, the spider is not dangerous to people, but that reality doesn’t stop the rumor mill. You can read more about the amazing daddy long-legs spider here.

Since harvestmen (there are many species) are often confused with the daddy long-legs spider, and people think the daddy long-legs spider is deadly, the innocent harvestman strikes fear in the hearts of some people. That’s a shame because they’re a really cool little animal. They’re easy to pick up and observe in-hand, and common in many places around the world. The biggest issue with them is that they have a tendency to drop a leg or two if they feel threatened, and that can skeeve some people out.

The harvestman feeds on small invertebrates and rotting plant and animal matter. It only rarely eats small children. (That’s a joke.) As they move around the world, their second pair of legs – from the front – function much like antennae. If you get a chance to watch a harvestman walking around, you’ll to see what I mean. They extend those legs, which are full of little sensory organs, and feel around in front of them, much like many other invertebrates use their antennae.

Anyway, if you see a harvestman, take a closer look. If you don’t like spiders, maybe the harvestman can be a kind of ambassador into the world of arachnids – it is an arachnid, just not a spider. If you DO like spiders, but had been told that harvestman (daddy long-legs) were dangerous, now you know they’re not. If you already like spiders AND knew that harvestmen were harmless, well good for you. You can just enjoy these photos taken from my backyard last week.

Each year, when spiderworts (Tradescantia sp) start blooming in our backyard prairie garden, I wander out to take photos of the hover flies that seem particularly attracted to the flowers. The tradition continued this week and I have a nice crop of fly photos to share, including a goofy one at the end of the post.

In bigger news, I got a couple advance copies of my new book in the mail yesterday! The book contains a dozen essays and a few other notes on the square meter photography project I did back in 2018, along with more than 100 photos taken exclusively within that square meter of prairie. It sounds like books will start shipping during early June, so if you happened to have pre-ordered the book, you shouldn’t have too much longer to wait. I’m really happy with the way it turned out and I hope you’ll like it too.

Now, back to hover flies… Here are some more shots from this morning.

The fly in the above photo was using its legs to wipe pollen off its face while swiveling its head around. Not long after this photo, I got another shot mid-swivel, catching the blur of the moving head. Later, as I browsed through the photos on my computer, I enjoyed the sequence of those two photos (twisted head and mid-swivel), along with another with the head in its more typical position.

In fact, I may have giggled a little because it almost looked like the fly was using its legs to twist its head. My mind wondered what it would look like if the fly could actually screw its head all the way off (and back on, of course). Because I had time on my hands, I created a photo series and edited the last frame to make it look like that actually happened. It made me happy – maybe you’ll find it funny too. If not, just ignore this last photo and enjoy the others…

Happy Weekend!