Totty wrote:
Chris Bacon wrote:
I found an insect the other day that I don't recognise. It was
like a sort of mosquito, but bigger and nastier looking. Length
16mm. The head, thorax, and abdomen were well defined segments.
The head was comparatively small, 2mm long, with two small
feelers right at the front, coming from a point and diverging,
like an upside-down Fu Manchu moustache. The eyes were large on
each side of the head, and pink-looking. There was a big nasty-
looking black proboscis (length 4mm), which could move from a
position under the head to one sticking out towards the front.
The thorax had a top which had a "combed" or reeded appearance
front-back, browny-black, 3mm long. The straight abdomen was
possibly 2mm wide, less in vertical cross-section. There was a
small pointy bit at the rear end, less than 1mm long. There were
dark grey/lighter grey bands from side to side of the abdomen.
The wings were shiny, colourless and transparent, with rounded
ends like oar blades.

Two wings or four?

Two, although I didn't look *too* closely at them. They overlapped
when the insect was at rest. They were very clear, and as I said,
very rounded at the ends.