Common crane fly

Conservation Status

IUCN Red List

not listed

NatureServe

NNR - Unranked

Minnesota

not listed

Description

Tipula trivittata is a large, early season, common crane fly. It occurs in North America east of the Great Plains, where it is most common in the north and is mostly absent from the south. The larvae feed on decaying vegetation, fungi, roots, foliage, and occasionally animal matter. Adults are active in the spring, from late April to early July. They are found in humid areas with wet ground, often near streams or lakes. They do not feed. They live just a few days, long enough to mate and lay eggs.

Adults are soft-bodied, brown, and 9⁄16″ to ⅞″ (14 to 22 mm) in length.

The head is small. There are two large compound eyes on the sides of the head and no simple eyes (ocelli). The compound eyes are bare, not covered with hairs. The mouth parts are at the end of a short but conspicuous, snout-like projection (rostrum) on the front of the head. At the tip of the rostrum, on the upper side, there is a short, pointed extension (nasus). The lower jaws (maxillae) have long sensory structures (palps) attached. Each palp has four segments. The fourth segment is antennae-like and very long, longer than the first three segments combined. The antennae are short and have 14 segments. The segments are simple, not branched. Each segment has an enlarged base and a whorl of medium-length hairs at the base.

The thorax is slightly humped. The upper thoracic plate (mesonotum) is pale with three dark longitudinal stripes. The middle stripe is pale in the center. There is a distinct, v-shaped groove (suture) on top near the wing bases.

The abdomen is long and slender. Each segment is yellowish-brown with three dark, longitudinal stripes. The lateral margins are gray. The last abdominal segment on the female has a long, acutely pointed, egg-laying apparatus (ovipositor). On the male, the last segment is enlarged into a club-shaped structure (hypopygium) that supports the copulatory apparatus.

The legs are very long and slender. The third segment (femur) on the hind legs is particularly long.

The wings are clear with a distinctive pattern of brown spots.

Size

9⁄16″ to ⅞″ (14 to 22 mm)

Similar Species

Habitat

Humid areas with wet ground, often near streams or lakes

Ecology

Season

Late April to early July

Behavior

Swarms of males fly above a bush or treetop in a mating “dance”. When a male seizes a female, the pair lands on foliage to mate.

Life Cycle

The larvae overwinter in the ground, either frozen or dormant, beneath the frozen soil. When the soil warms in the spring, they become active, finish feeding, and transform into a pupa. The pupal stage lasts one to two weeks, and the adult emerges from the soil. Adults do not feed. They live just long enough to mate and lay eggs, then they die.

Larva Food/Hosts

Decaying vegetation, fungi, roots, foliage, and occasionally animal matter

Adult Food

Adults do not feed