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Non-biting midge.

A male chironomid, head-to-tail length around 4-5mm, Snug, Tasmania, Australia.

 

Chironomids are often misidentified as mozzies but there are ways to easily tell them apart: chironomids hold up their front legs at rest, mozzies hold up their back legs; the leading edge wing veins for the midges are noticeably stronger than the other veins but they are all fairly equal in mozzies; chironomids have haired wings, mosquitoes instead have scales (particularly lining the veins); and finally chironomid females do not have the long sucking proboscis associated with female mozzies.

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Uploaded on May 2, 2009
Taken on May 2, 2009