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Dear All, Oct 20, 2007
I found Featherwing Beetles (Ptiliidae; about 1-mm long; new to me)
on Oct 11 and this being, after the warm rain, a time when things might
be active I looked for and found several more today.
To see the impressive feathery hind wing, I removed one elytron and
teased out a hind wing in water. A trace of detergent causes the hairs
to splay out. The fully expanded hind wing is about 3 times as long as
the elytron and folded in 2 places. What a design.
By the looks of it, this beetle should be easily able to float on a
rising column of warm air and I wonder if in fact they can do this.
Yt, Dave Webster, Kentville
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