Tipulidae, often called crane flies
in their adult stage, is the largest family of true
flies. Crane flies form a highly diverse group of
insects, both in number of species and in larval
habitats, which extend from aquatic to terrestrial. The
body plan or morphology of crane flies is rather
simple. An elongate body, one pair of narrow wings, and
long, slender legs characterize them. The body size
ranges from 5 to 50 mm and can be described as
mosquito-like. They are often mistaken for mosquitoes,
but they belong to a group of harmless flies and can be
distinguished from all other true flies by the
transverse V-shaped groove on the dorsal part of the
thorax.
In North America, more than 1,500 species of crane flies
have been described and over 300 species are known from
Pennsylvania. This number probably represents only
about two-thirds of the estimated actual number for the
state, and much more precise taxonomic studies are
needed.
Crane flies undergo complete metamorphosis in their
development with a brief egg stage, a relatively long
larval feeding stage, a brief pupal resting stage, and
finally a short adult breeding stage.
Crane flies serve several important roles in the
ecosystem. Most importantly, adult and larval crane
flies are food for many animals such as birds, fish,
frogs, lizards, spiders and other insects. In addition,
the larvae are detritus feeders that break down organic
matter in various habitats such as streams and forest
floors thereby enriching the soil, renewing and
modifying the microhabitat for other invertebrate
species. Some crane flies require special habitat
conditions, and their presence or absence can be used as
an indicator of environmental quality. Fishermen use
larvae of some large crane flies as bait. Several
species of crane flies are important agricultural pests;
their larvae feed on seedlings of field crops and if
abundant can be destructive to lawns, rangelands, rice
fields, and golf courses.
This from Wikipedia: "Numerous other common names have
been applied to the crane fly, many of them more or less
regional, including, mosquito hawks, mosquito
eaters (or skeeter eaters), gallinippers,
gollywhoppers, and jimmy spinners."
(One wonders how they left out the classic poem
"There's a skeeter on my.." you know.)
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Crane Flies of Pennsylvania |
