Flies from the familie Tipulidae are called
Crane flies: they have 6 long legs and a thin
and long abdomen. The wings are held outside
at rest. They are slow fliers and slow walkers
too. The thin legs made them invulnarable for
ants and bugs as they move high above the ground.
And even if a leg is catched they can throw
that leg of. The biggest enemies are birds and frogs.
Leatherjackets
The larval stage of the Crane Fly are called
leatherjackets. They feed on the roots of grass,
causing yellow patches. Vegetables like patatoes
and lettuce can also be affected by letterjackets.
Leatherjackets are very winterhardy.
Spiders that look like Crane flies
Some spiders with long legs are mistaken as crane flies,
and to make things even more diffcult , they are all
called daddy-long-legs. Daddy-long-legs
and theCellar spider.
The Crane fly are hunted as they enter
a house, as they resemble the
mosquito
The silhouette of the house Mosquito (Culex pipens), and Mosquito
(Anopheles) and Crane fly (Tipola) all resemble each other.
Two Crane flies are mating.
More about this on the website of Ditte Merle.
The Crane fly or Tipola and (from left to right):
Marsh grass of Parnassus (Parnassia palustris), the common Sundew
or round-leaved Sundew ((Drosera rotundifolia) and Heather (Calluna vulgaris).
"Cockhafer, cranefly and clickbeetle", an illustration made by M.A. Koekkoek
1a, 1b, 1c, 1d Cockhafer: female, male,chafer grub or white grub
2a, 2b, 2c cranefly: female, male, Leatherjackets
"Cockhafer, cranefly and clickbeetle", an illustration made by M.A. Koekkoek
