Crane Fly (redirected from Craneflies)

crane fly, true fly resembling a mosquito, often called daddy longlegs because of its six long, delicate legs. (The harvestman, also called daddy longlegs, belongs to an unrelated order.) Most species of crane flies have a single pair of wings and slender bodies. They feed upon plant substances and frequent damp places in pastures and meadows. Crane flies belong to the phylum Arthropoda, class Insecta, order Diptera, family Tipulidae.

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crane fly

Harmless, slow-flying dipteran (family Tipulidae) usually found around water or abundant vegetation. It ranges in size from tiny to slightly over 1 in. (2.5 cm) long. Larvae of the range crane fly (Tipula simplex) are called leatherjackets because of their tough brown skin. In northern latitudes a wingless crane-fly species is found on snow. The crane fly is also called daddy longlegs in English-speaking countries other than the U.S. (in the U.S., daddy longlegs refers to an arachnid).

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crane fly

any dipterous fly of the family Tipulidae, having long legs, slender wings, and a narrow body

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Crane Fly 

(Tipula paludosa), an insect of the family Tipulidae. The adult crane fly resembles the gray mosquito and is 20-24 mm long. Its eggs are about 1 mm long, oval, black, and shiny, and its larvae are 30-35 mm long, legless, and cylindrical. The crane fly is widespread in North America and Europe. It is found everywhere in the USSR and injures mainly flax in the humid regions of the European Soviet Union, especially flax growing on moist peaty soils. It is less destructive to hemp, peas, potatoes, corn, barley, oats, buckwheat, and vegetables. There is one generation a year. The crane fly lays its eggs in the soil. The larvae live and winter in the soil where they feed on roots and dead parts of plants. In the spring they gnaw at the roots and stems of young plants and at leaves close to the ground, severely thinning out the crops. Control methods include drainage of bogs, deep fall plowing, poison bait, and treatment of crops with insecticides.

I. M. BELIAEV