Giant flying bug found on side of Walmart turns out to be ‘super-rare’ Jurassic-era insect

(When I went to UA -just short of the Jurassic period – we called these bugs mosquitoes – DD)

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(MSN) Michael Skvarla, director of Penn State University’s Insect Identification Lab, found a mysterious large insect outside the Fayetteville super chain’s building – an experience he remembers “vividly.”

“I saw this huge insect on the side of the building,” he said in a press release from Penn State. “I thought it looked interesting, so I put it in my hand and did the rest of my shopping with it between my fingers. I got home, mounted it, and promptly forgot about it for almost a decade.”

Little did he know that years later, the giant flying bug was a “super-rare” Jurassic-era insect.

A zoom call lesson
The scientist originally thought the bug he plucked from the Walmart’s exterior was an antlion. According to the Missouri Department of Conservation, the insects have:

Fragile, drab damselflies
Elongated bodies
Four intricately veined wings mottled with browns and black
Clubbed or curved antennae about as long as the combined head and thorax
Enter the fall of 2020: Skvarla was teaching an online course on insect biodiversity and evolution and, during a Zoom call, he realized it wasn’t what he originally thought.

The insect, he learned, was a true conversation piece…
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