DIPTERA > NEMATOCERA | Lower Diptera

TIPULOMORPHA > Tipuloidea > Tipulidae (87 species)

(subfamilies: Ctenophorinae, Dolichopezinae and Tipulinae)

The Tipuloidea superfamily comprises the true cranefly families, Tipulidae, Cylindrotomidae, Pediciidae and Limoniidae, which are taxonomically separated from a more distantly related family Ptychopteridae.

When I started this website back in 2022, I avoided trying to separate craneflies by placing the few photos I had on a single page, mixing Tipulidae, Limoniidae and the sole representative I'd found from the small Pediciidae family together, and using the superfamily name as the title. It worked at the time, but now I have a few more species, I've had to rework the pages.

This page, as the updated title confirms, starts with the typically larger tipulid species - craneflies with long palps and long legs, an elongated abdomen and, in most cases, long wings. They are seen as the familiar species that many people call 'daddy longlegs'. Although there are three subfamilies, all but seven species are in Tipulinae, and nearly all of those are placed in the Tipulini tribe in either the Nephrotoma genus as featured here or Tipula as covered on the following page.

All of the remaining craneflies I've photographed from the other families are still covered on a single page.

Tipulid species are described as being medium to large (7-35mm); mostly grey or brown; antenna, wings, legs and abdomen long and slender; rostrum well developed (long-palped); ocelli absent; thorax with V-shaped transverse suture; wings with two anal veins and with Sc curving down to end on R; some species with conspicuous wing markings. The relative length of the A2 vein helps separate certain species from the Trichoceridae winter-gnats.

They live in a wide range of habitats including grasslands where larvae in the soil are known as leatherjackets, and various types of woodland and wetland areas where the larvae may be found in moss, rotten wood, mud or even in semi-aquatic locations. Although most craneflies are rather drab, some of the rarer and less frequent species are quite spectacular.

Nephrotoma (15 species)

Collectively known as 'tiger craneflies' as most species in the genus have a mainly yellow, or yellowish, body with broad black stripes on top of the thorax and some black markings on the sides. I'd like to think that in time I could find one or two more species locally but, at present, it's just the four featured here. The first three, conveniently as listed in alphabetical order, are the three most frequently observed Nephrotoma species nationwide. It's not quite the situation in my area as Nephrotoma submaculosa is the most common and, in fact, with more confirmed records from Dorset than from any other region. Interestingly though, the last officially confirmed sighting was over ten years ago. Nephrotoma flavescens and Nephrotoma quadrifaria have nearly the same number of records, and then, seemingly a little scarcer locally, it's Nephrotoma appendiculata and Nephrotoma flavipalpis. It would appear that the only other realistic possibility is Nephrotoma guestfalica, but there are so few records of any of these that it's hard to know which species are likely to occur or whether they are just under-recorded.

Nephrotoma appendiculata - dull yellow; abdomen with a broad dark-greyish stripe down the centre; top of thorax with wide black stripes that are completely separated and with the sides having a distinctive inverted U-shaped black mark between the wing base and the halteres; wings usually with a pale stigma; a springtime species of both dry and damp grassland, favouring open rather than shaded areas; from late April and throughout May.

Nephrotoma flavescens - typically, a brighter yellow colour than most of the other species; the black marking at the back of the head is very broad at the base; abdomen with a narrow, broken dark stripe; wings with a feint pale brown stigma; mainly occurs on dry neutral grassland and richer sandy heaths; typically found in June or July, rarely later.

Nephrotoma quadrifaria - distinctive; females have tergites with tapered, more-or-less triangular-shaped median markings; the black marking at the back of the head is also rather triangular in shape, and nowhere near as large as in flavescens; wings with a dark stigma, with dark 'seam' below which follows the veins; primarily a woodland species, but also occurring along hedgerows and in gardens; usually peaks from mid-June to mid-July.

Nephrotoma submaculosa - another bright yellow species, similar to flavescens, but much scarcer; the black patch at the back of the head is smaller, far less broad than in flavescens; the broken dark stripe running down the abdomen is a bit wider, and on the lateral margins of the tergites there are streaky marks that form a semi-continuous stripe; the other noticeable difference is that the top of the thorax is entirely glossy, whereas in flavescens it's dull between the black stripes; primarily a coastal species found in areas where dunes are present, but can also be found occasionally inland on sandy heaths; most records are from mid-May to early June.

Nephrotoma flavipalpis - an attractive species with a strongly banded abdomen; unfortunately, quite elusive with only a small number of records from my local area over the past few years; usual habitat is woodland or hedgerows; flight period late May to October, peaking July or early August.

Nephrotoma guestfalica - a relatively small cranefly with long black hairs on the pronotum and a dark wing stigma; occurs mostly on sandy soils although the only local sighting over the past few years was from a back garden in the middle of Wimborne; peaks around mid-June to early July.

NB. All British craneflies have been given a common name such as Primrose Tiger, Marsh White-stripe or Large Ocelot for example. The majority are not in general use and don't actually make much sense to me, but in order to provide as much information as possible for the species I've seen, the respective name has been included as part of each photo title - viewable when hovering over or as part of the extended caption if clicked and enlarged.

The Tipula species are featured on the next page ....

Updated, Dec.24 (v.3)