This is a pic of what we around here call a June Bug. (I tried to tell him it was only May, and that he was early, but he just looked at me strangely). They're a little over 1 inch long in the body, not counting the legs. They have 2 sets of wings that are almost 1 inch long each, so when it's in flight, they're bloody huge! They make a very loud noise in flight too - really creepy! They only live in this form about a month - I don't know what they do the rest of the time. :) I'm just glad that they aren't around the whole summer, the sound of them buzzing out there in the dark when you want to step out on the deck and look at the stars is just too creepy! :D Like moths, they are attracted by light (thinking it's the moon), so you get a lot of them on window screens. If you look really closely at their eyes, they, like moths, have these gorgeous red faceted eyes, like a red jewel. I assume there's some benefit to seeing in the dark with eyes like that. Check out the pic below - while it's out of focus, you can see one of each of their eyes reflecting red back at the camera flash:
So, if you like bugs like that, Nova Scotia in late May - June is the place to be! If you don't like them, stay indoors after dark - they're not poisonous or dangerous or anything like that - they're just big and creepy! :)
The Family