Snow Fly WC #569

There ARE some little critters out there in the snow, but they are often not so easy to find.

Snow fly is one of the names some people use for this small winter stonefly (Order Plecoptera; Family Capniidae; and this is most likely Allocapnia sp.). They are only about 10-12 mm. long, so I think many people never notice them walking around in the snow in late winter or early spring near streams. It's amazing that their physiology has evolved so the adults can be active at such low temperatures. I think it's a nice adaptation to allow them to emerge from the stream, molt and breed before predatory insects are active.

I shot this hand-held, but laying in the snow with my lens hand cradled in the snow as I followed them scurrying around. This one stopped long enough for one of my hand-held stacks, firing a burst as I gently moved the camera closer to the subject. Seems too crude to work, but it often produces a good series to stack if you are steadying the camera well.

This is re-processed from one I posted last year.

Canon 5DII
Sigma 150 Macro
1/100sec. @ f/11
5 images focus-stacked in CS5