#chaoborus

[onenicebugperday]

Phantom midge, Chaoborus sp., Chaoboridae

Photographed in Singapore by Nicky Bay // Website // Facebook

Shared with permission; do not remove credit or re-post!

[morgandjackson]

#365Insects 85: #Chaoborus punctipennis (Say, 1823) While the adults are definitely corporeal, legend has it larval Phantom Midges are considerably spookier. Well, at least the legends of rotifers and other aquatic invertebrates who may find themselves in the presence of a translucent maggot with gigantic, clasping antennae just waiting to pounce. (at University of Guelph)

[mucholderthen]

Chaoborus Photomicrography by Michal Kukla February 4 - 16, 2014

Animalia  >  Arthropoda  >  Hexapoda  >  Insecta  > Diptera  >  Chaoboridae  >  Chaoborus

The larva of the phantom midge is called a glassworm.

Glassworms are almost entirely transparent, except for pairs of black kidney-shaped structures in the front and the back of the body. These are air sacs, used to migrate up and down in lakes. Glassworms breathe through the end of their abdomen and have two small eyes at the front of their bodies.

Wikipedia

[mucholderthen]

Larva of the phantom midge (Chaoborus) “Glassworm.”

Birefringent material has a refractive index that depends on the polarization and propagation direction of light – it's why some materials display a double refraction.

Here, birefringent musculature that is usually clear and colorless is made visible by specialized illumination.

Polarized light, 100X. Charles Krebs, Issaquah, Washington 2013 Olympus BioScapes Digital Imaging Competition

SOURCE: Collage of Arts and Sciences