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Photo#744620
Snow Scorpionfly - Boreus nivoriundus - male - female

Snow Scorpionfly - Boreus nivoriundus - Male Female
Montpelier, Washington County, Vermont, USA
February 12, 2013
found at ~3pm at the edge of a mixed forest, temp ~37 F, intermittent snow throughout the day.

After a friend found some of these a few towns over this morning, I thought I'd try my luck in the afternoon. I lucked out, as these were the only arthropods I saw during my search! I'm not sure it these are B. nivoriundus or B. brumalis, and have pictures from other angles if that helps with the ID.

Correct determination, based
Correct determination, based on the setae on the thorax. I would love to have freshly-caught specimens dropped alive into alcohol and sent to me for DNA analysis. (Wes Bicha, 121 Old Batley Road, Oliver Springs, TN 37840.)

 
I'll be on the lookout!
The snow pack is pretty thin now, but I'm hoping to get out a bunch this winter to look for these (and other winter active insects). Let's hope for good snow and mild temperatures!

Moved
Moved from ID Request.

magnificent shot; nivoriundus is the only sp. recorded in VT
excellent species pages for all the NA mecopterans in the online catalog(1) here

 
Interesting -
We have a couple images of brumalis from Vermont on BugGuide already!

ID guess...
After looking at the descriptions some more, I'm thinking this is B. nivoriundus because of the brown-ish yellow ovipositor w/ black tip, and brown-ish yellow (not black) legs. [see reference here]

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