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24? 



Zaitzev, A.I. 1999. Review of fungus gnats from the signata group of the genus MycetopUla 

 Meig. (Diptera, Myeetophilidae) from Palacarctic fauna with description of new species 

 Zoologicheskoe Zhyrnal 78(9): 1080 1090. 



Zaitzev, A.I. & 0kland. B. 1994. lour new species of fungus gnats from Norway (Diptera. 



Myeetophilidae). Studio dipterologica 1: IX I 186. 

 Zaitzev, A.I. & Polevoi, A.V. 1995. New species of fungus gnats (Diptera: Myeetophilidae) from 



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SHORT COMMUNICATION 



Ranatra linearis (L.) (Heteroptera: Nepidae) in flight— My numerous previous 

 encounters with Ranatra had left me in no doubt that it must fly quite frequently, as I 

 have regularly found adults in isolated, ephemeral water bodies. Clegg (1952) simply 

 states that it 'can fly\ but Chinery (1972) erroneously states that it is winged but 

 flightless. I had long harboured a great desire to see the water stick-insect By, as it 

 looks such an unlikely aeronaut. At c.l 1.45 am on 12. v. 2000, I was using a pond net 

 to sample some small, temporary pools on Churt Flashes, Surrey (SU83)T I had never 

 seen Ranatra there before, despite annually dipping the ponds since 1988. With the 

 first trawl of my net I caught a large adult. Unusually the bug adopted a sprightly 

 stance right up on the tips of its tarsi. Just for a second I thought the impossible 

 might happen, but it didn't, so I placed it back in the water. A minute later at the 

 next pond my friend Dr Rob McGibbon and I were treated to the most amazina 

 sight of a Ranatra (possibly the one I had just caught) on the wing. It flew at about 

 shoulder height with the body and front legs held parallel to the ground. The middle 

 and hind legs were outstretched downwards at 90 to the body, and the tarsi 

 appeared to be pressed together. The abdomen showed up bright red. and at a casual 

 glance it could easily be mistaken for a red damselfly {Ceriagrhn or Pyrrhosoma), if it 

 wasn't for the very peculiar direct and level flight, with wide slow turns. This is at 

 odds with Joan Hardingham's observations of a Ranatra flying in Suffolk (Chalklev. 

 1996). She stated that the "body is held at 60 c ", but also that 'the wings are of a 

 russetty colour like an earwig's', presumably as a result of confusing the wings 

 (which are colourless) with the abdomen beneath. 



This all too brief excursion into the air was curtailed by a headlong kamikaze dive 

 at the pond edge ending in a half-submerged crash landing. The bug remained in this 

 position for at least five minutes. The combination of shock and delight had left me 

 doubled up in hysterics and my companion clearly feared for my sanity, until I 

 explained just how privileged we were to see such a rare sight. 



That this phenomenon should be observed on a fairly typical warm spring day 

 makes it all the more surprising that it isn't witnessed more often.— Jonty Denton 

 2 Sandown Close, Alton, Hants GU34 2TG, UK 



References 



Chalkley, A. K. 1996. Ranatra linearis— in flight! Heteroptera Study Group Newsletter, So. IS. 



Chinery, M. 1972. A field guide to the Insects of Britain and Northern Europe. Collins London 

 Clegg, J. 1952. Freshwater Life. Frederick Warne. London. 



