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Crane Fly - Tipula (Platytipula) paterifera
Class Insecta / Subclass Pterygota / Infraclass Neoptera / Order Diptera
Suborder Nematocera / Infraorder Tipulomorpha / Family Tipulidae --
crane flies, tipules
Tipulidae is the largest family of Diptera with about 1,500 species in North
America and 12,000 species worldwide.
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This species is a late autumnal species (16-19 mm) found
especially in lawn, grassy areas, and humid areas along ponds,
marshes, and streams. Head and thorax are gray, abdomen chiefly
brownish-yellow, and the abdominal tergite with a median brown
stripe. Wings tinged with brown and with costal margin darken.
Adults are active in later afternoon and they come rather freely
to light at night. This largely midwest species (Kansas,
Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee) has spread all the way to the east
coast (New Jersey, Maryland) in the last two decades. This
species has not previously been recorded from Pennsylvania; it
represents a state record and is now widespread in
Pennsylvania.*
*The Crane
Flies of Pennsylvania
Thanks to Dr. Chen Young of Carnegie Museum of Natural History
for identification of these specimens. |
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Swarms of mating crane fly males dance above vegetation waiting
to seize females. Around the pond where I took these pictures,
there are thousands of these flies - they look like huge
mosquitoes on steroids, but they cannot sting or bite. They are
very clumsy fliers, their legs being twice as long as their
bodies. One would think them willing photographic subjects, but
they are very alert and do not sit still for very long unless
caught "in the act."
Habitat: Humid areas near ponds, streams, marshes. Range:
Worldwide. Food: Adults do not feed.
Larvae feed on decaying vegetation, fungi and roots.
Life Cycle: Slender eggs are laid on moist soil or mud near open
water. Fully grown larvae pupate overwinter in the soil, emerge
in spring. |
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The small, bulbous structures are called halteres. They
are used for balance and vibration damping during flight. All
true flies have these organs; they evolved from the (absent in
flies) second set of wings present in many other insects.
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