Crane fly - Tipulidae oleracea

Another slow day at the woods, so bad that I nearly didn't blip, but snapped out of it this morning.

This is a common sight, not only in the woods but in the bottom of lamp shades when you clean them out every three years! This one is probably a male as the female has a sting like pointed spike at the tip of the abdomen. The spike is used for burying eggs and the insect is totally harmless.

Following on from yesterday's instinct discussion. Kendallishere mentioned human instinct in the comments and thought it might be an interesting discussion. Humans are actually born with a few basic instincts carried over from our ape lineage. These instincts tend to only last for days though. The instinct of a baby to grip with its hands and feet is very prominent. Everyone has had that falling out of a tree dream, this too is limited to our younger years.

Higher brain function and the associated leaps in technology is actually weakening the species. You don't hear giraffes screaming for gas and air and pigs pop those puppies out at an alarming rate while snacking at the same time. Humans are surviving events that should have taken us out of the gene pool. It doesn't take a great deal of imagination of how the birthing thing will go down a thousand years from now.

It seems that our higher brain function has replaced the need for instinct, but a few instincts do return when the brain is switched off, ethanol consumption being a prime example. The basic instinct to mark ones territory arises as we urinate up trees and walls. It would make more sense to urinate in an open field, thus avoiding the tedious splash back. Severe cases of ethanol infusion will awaken the hunter gatherer instincts and you are likely to discover a road cone or a 'for sale' sign beside your bed or a pocket full of petrol caps.

I am sure you could think of a few more examples of human instincts and I invite you to share them here.

Dave