Daddy Long Legs

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Although they are around most of the time from spring onwards, Autumn is really crane fly season and it’s unusual not to find a few on the house walls or in the house (where the cat likes to catch and eat them). There were many, including this brown-coloured Marsh Crane Fly, around until early in the month, whereas this Tipula confusa with its lace patterned wings is a late flier, attracted to the moth trap this week. The third species looks superficially like a crane fly, but it’s actually a moth which rolls up its wings at rest. The Common Plume Moth (Emmelina monodactyla) flies right through the Autumn and Winter from September to May, and like crane flies it is often attracted into houses by the light.

Marsh Crane Fly (Tipula oleracea) & Spotted Crane Fly (Nephrotoma appendiculata)

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These two crane flies, are two species that appear during April. With it’s dark brown front to the wing and its large size Marsh Crane Fly (Tipula oleracea) is a common enough species, but a new one for my garden none-the-less (#565). This species has two generations in a year, the first in April-June and the second in August-October. The glossy black coloration on the thorax of this individual is a little unusual; not sure what has caused that. The Spotted Crane Fly (Nephrotoma appendiculata, #230) is the commonest “tiger” crane fly in April/May - so called because of the yellow and black marks on the thorax. Both of them live in grassy fields with their leather-jacket ;larvae munching the roots.