The draw of Daddy Long Legs

I'm ever so slightly obsessed with Daddy Long Legs this month!

For 2022 I am expanding my explorations into "Pests". All too often "pest eradication" sites pop up when you try to find out more about many of the insects in our gardens and I am concerned that it is all too easy to be drawn into the chemical solutions presented before we can even be sure there is a problem to solve. My research into Wasps began with the realisation that Wasps were despised where Bees were accepted and yet they are such important creatures in the ecosystem. Now my sights are firmly settled on Cranefly: 

​I came across a few decent cranefly specimen whose legs were mostly intact. I'm not sure if it's the wings or the legs that fascinate me most but the legs are definitely fragile.​​

I hadn't realised there were so many different types of cranefly - I'm struggling to identify these, but the bigger one is probably a Tipula paludosa, female (pointed abdomen for egg laying, the male is squared off). She has one pair of wings, the second pair have evolved into 'halteres', which help with balance during flight. She will only have flown for a couple of weeks while she mates and lays eggs, during which time she will not feed. 

The eggs become larvae, commonly known as leather jackets which feed on grass roots (and similar crops).
​
A few years ago we treated the lawn with moss killer ... the moss recovered but the starlings stopped visiting and it was a while before I realised that they had lost their food source. I missed watching them march across the lawn encouraging the leather jackets to emerge, the tiny beak shaped holes dotted about. I learnt my lesson ... no more moss killer (or any insecticide/pesticides/fungicide for that matter).

I finally bought some wet strength tissue paper to see the effects of layering.

I'm always looking to find a balance between my inspirations and researching new technical solutions.
As many of you know, my intention is to bring insects into the conscious but I'm aware that we often only catch a glimpse, whether through not looking enough, the speed of the insect or perhaps it's scarcity. The tissue layering is reminiscent of insects hidden in the undergrowth but what else does it tell me?

Scratching into the graphite layers is a different style of drawing. Line drawing and hatching instead of shading, similar to silverpoint which I explored a few years ago. There was an amazing exhibition at The British Museum and a brilliant book, Drawing in Silver and Gold - silverpoint was the drawing implement of choice before pencils were invented (discovered?). It was an avenue I didn't follow at the time but I'm finding my drawing skills have evolved to more easily accommodate this approach.

​Some insects seem to work best with my delicate, detailed observational drawing. Others seem better suited to the abstract random marks. Some make good prints.

The Daddy Long Legs doesn't care ... I'm loving the results either way.

I'd been fighting the urge to make a stamp for several days (deadlines!!!) but it got the better of me so I spent an afternoon carving.

The legs were a bit fiddly, but then they have a habit of falling off. I can imagine it would make a better wood engraving subject.​

It's been suggested losing a leg is an easy way to escape predators, especially spiders webs. I don't think they regrow but they seem to manage with less - I will look closer this year as well as searching for ways to learn more about them. 

Pete Boardman is running an online introduction to Craneflies on 23 February through Wildlife Trust BCN - check out their Eventbrite page if you're interested. I think that will be £7 well spent 🧐

The first completed Cranefly piece, Glimpse FPS018, will be on show with the Free Painters and Sculptors at Muse Gallery in Portobello Road, London from 2-20 February 2022 :

Fifty Bees 5 >