Talk:Crane fly

confirmation of the taxonomic limits of this map?


It is unclear whether this map shows Tipulidae in the strict sense, or Tipulids, Limoniids, Pediciids, etc. It would be helpful to link it to a source, if only to confirm that this is not original research. Dyanega (talk) 00:33, 13 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Actually, I tracked it to the source, and this is a graph of fresh-water species of all four families, not just Tipulidae; it shouldn;t be used for either this page or the Tipuloidea page, as it indicates ONLY freshwater species, which is a fraction of the species diversity, and very misleading compared to global diversity. Dyanega (talk) 00:36, 13 March 2013 (UTC)
 * I wonder what you “tracked to the source”. The map is based on the data in table 1: line Tipulidae sensu stricto. Cylindrotomidae, Limoniidae and Pediciidae are not included. Moreover this table represents counts of all representatives not only feshwater ones. Mithril (talk) 21:57, 13 March 2013 (UTC)

Diet of Adults
I have some concern with the statement "Though they have been seen consuming other insects like yellow jackets" with the simple reference "seen by Thomas White in Des Moines, Iowa." Who is Thomas White? Are there photographs to confirm this? Did the crane fly actively hunt down and kill the yellow jacket? Or did it come across the body and take the opportunity to gain nutrients? Chytrid Wm (talk) 21:02, 14 November 2013 (UTC)
 * It was vandalism by User:Tearjay-- O BSIDIAN  †  S OUL  21:13, 14 November 2013 (UTC)

Thanks! Chytrid Wm (talk) 21:45, 14 November 2013 (UTC)
 * Well, the common name is "mosquito eater" but do they actually eat mosquitoes? The article doesn't give a clue. ~Amatulić (talk) 02:28, 1 August 2014 (UTC)

...As an angler and country lover of 78yrs I have observed crane flies diving into swarms of midges on a number of occasions .However last year my wife and I witnessed a truly remarkable event We were standing in our daughters path when a wasp flew past us and landed on the white rendered front of the house, it was seized by a crane fly and carried into a flower display near the front door. After a matter of perhaps 30 seconds the crane fly re appeared with the now inert wasp firmly clasped to its body and flew away with it. We were both amazed by the ability of the crane fly to subdue the wasp, also to flyaway bearing it,s own body weight as well as the wasp. I cannot imagine the reason for this other than it must have seen the wasp as prey..2018.

I don't have any proof and I will try to get a photo if I see it again but I once saw a crane fly drinking some nectar from a Sarracenia pitcher plant's trap. The plants have caught hundreds of them in the past so I am pretty sure that at least some crane fly species feed on flowers.

I think the crane fly that caught the wasp may have been a robber fly or more likely a hangingfly (Bittacidae). Drosophyllum lusitanicum (talk) 15:28, 12 May 2019 (UTC)

big flying black and red bug with what looks like a huge stinger.
Where you might usually expect to see bees we have instead this larger, black, slender bodied bug with black transparent wings and a black, stinger type appendage sticking out from its rear end. I've seen many of them. Living in Looe, Cornwall. Very near salt water and fresh water a plenty. We have many flowers and should have many bees but I think maybe these little flying devils have done for our happy bees. They are VERY UNPLEASANT to look at - much less when they seem to love landing on you and hitching a ride. Since their 'stinging' appendage is long and menacing you just want rid of it off your back or leg but so far they don't seem to sting humans. Could they be what has killed off our bees. Maybe even wasps. There are pictures similar all over these pages but I haven't yet seen 'my' bug. There is a picture of one insect killing another smaller one of its own type by the look of it in the picture. There is a very perturbed chap who sent in similar pictures to the one at the bottom of our road in Looe, but none yet of the actual bug we have. Could be it is rapidly still changing. Every birth slightly different from the last but I've seen this one for about 3 years now. Not the very same bug,but the same type. Your pictures are similar but don't have the stinger. There is one seemingly head on to the camera which is the closest yet. I'll try to get a picture in spring/ summer this year coming. I honestly believe its been imported, adapted, evolved and until they begin stinging people are viewed as a curiosity and no more............ Watch the bug space for news as this grows.In size and occurrence................ — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.31.79.217 (talk) 23:15, 21 January 2014 (UTC)


 * Doesn't sound like Tipulidae, but I am not an expert in the group. Try posting the picture up on a site like iNaturalist.org or submitting it to Bug Guide. TelosCricket (talk) 20:48, 24 January 2014 (UTC)

as a complete amateur I was confused by the article's description of the snout. in one paragraph it is long. in the next it is short to very short. ? Daiyounger (talk) 18:24, 5 May 2014 (UTC)

"Gallynapper" is incorrect. "Gallinipper" refers to the giant mosquitoes of the Psorophora genus. It is of my opinion that using "Gallynapper" is a misnomer based on cultural ignorance of the species. Also, it is not mentioned in the citation (neither is "Johnny Spinner" either). 67.79.10.18 (talk) 17:05, 23 September 2014 (UTC)

Over wintering
Does anyone have sourced material on their over wintering? What form; eggs, larvae or adults. Do frosts have an effect? Why do some years have a population explosion as at Lords 1935? SovalValtos (talk) 23:40, 18 February 2016 (UTC)

Rostrum
The article claims the rostrum is long (and shows several pictures that show a long snout), then in the next paragraph, claims the rostrum is short. I'm not going to fix it since it may well be that the snout in question is not anatomically a proper rostrum, but someone should fix it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.72.206.153 (talk) 07:54, 23 April 2016 (UTC)

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Eyesight
Is it just me, or do these things have downright atrocious eyesight? Whenever I see them, they're always clumsily bumping into things - not just light sources, mind you, but people, animals, and entirely opaque solid walls; it'd be funnier if it weren't kinda sad how downright pathetic they look, and it makes me wonder how anybody ever thought that these things were predators. Does anybody else know if their eyesight/spatial awareness/etc. is actually abnormally poor, or if their large, spindly, awkward profile and slow speed of movement just exaggerate a trait that other insects share? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.4.70.96 (talk) 02:34, 2 September 2019 (UTC)


 * I'll try to look up any reliable sources on their eyesight. I haven't kept too much track of their flying abilities. 38.142.216.106 (talk) 14:00, 12 November 2019 (UTC)

Comment for Behavioral Ecology
The article was missing some important information. Could've mentioned and expanded on the crane fly’s predators and how they keep themselves and their offspring safe. Adding a sub section for the reproduction rituals and one for the life cycle of the fly would allow the reader to have a better understanding of the fly. KendalTLee (talk) 22:33, 17 September 2019 (UTC)

Behavioral Ecology
A strength of this article is that it has quite a lot of citations throughout the article from a variety of sources and references that are reliable. The most interesting thing I learned from this article is that the flies are similar in appearance to mosquitos and are often mistaken for such, giving them the nickname “mosquito hawks” that they are commonly to referred to as. Sections missing from the article that could be included are life cycle/reproduction, which should be included to give the reader a sense of how the fly develops, matures, and mates, a Distribution section, to show where the fly is most commonly found and its role in ecology, and an Evolution/Taxonomy section, which is important in order to discuss how the fly is related species as well as its evolution pattern.The article is ranked a C-class article and given a mid-importance ranking, which I believe are accurate considering that this type of fly contains many different species. The talk page was very active in both 2013 and 2016, with discussions on several topics within the article but has been quiet since, making the article in need of an update. Mvardy417 (talk) 00:35, 18 September 2019 (UTC)

Common Names
My family (in Upper Michigan) always called these things "Texas Mosquitos" with the humorous logic that everything from Texas is bigger and better than in other states. I'm not seeing this name turn up in a brief Google search... are we the only ones using this name? It seems like a classic bit of Americana.

Also called "tipple"?
Are they also called "tipple"? 173.88.246.138 (talk) 23:25, 17 March 2022 (UTC)


 * You tell us. Provide a reliable source, and it can be added. That's how this works; published evidence, not anecdotes. Dyanega (talk) 15:41, 18 March 2022 (UTC)

Rostrum length
The “Summary” subsection of the description says the rostrum is long (with a reference), but under “Formal” it’s said to be short (uncited). Is the former perhaps including mouthparts or other structures that aren’t technically part of the rostrum? At any rate these apparently contradictory statements need reconciling somehow.—Odysseus 1 4 7  9  22:56, 24 October 2022 (UTC) P.S. I see above that this question came up a few years ago.—23:04, 24 October 2022 (UTC)

"unidentified larva" caption
Sounds like someone just added a random larva image. Why not also include a generic bug picture? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.72.40.86 (talk • contribs) 20:40, 27 March 2023 (UTC)