(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