(Helius flavipes)
Conservation • Description • Habitat • Biology • Distribution • Taxonomy
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Description |
Helius flavipes is a small typical crane fly. It occurs in the United States and southern Canada east of the Great Plains. Adults are active from May to September. They are found in marshes and near slow streams. The larvae are aquatic. Adults are ¼″ (6 to 7 mm) in length. The head is grayish brown. The tube-like projection of mouthparts (proboscis) is black and slightly elongated. It is slightly longer than the head but shorter than the thorax. The finger-like sensory mouthparts (palps) are also black. The eyes are large and hairless. The antennae have 16 segments. The first segment (scape) and the second segment (pedicel) are dark brown. The remaining segments (flagellomeres) are light brown. The thorax is yellowish brown or brownish. The lines on the thorax may be well defined or indistinct. The wings are mostly clear. They are clouded with brown just at the tip. The opaque spot (stigma) on the leading edge (costal margin) is a large, squarish, dark brown spot. There is one submarginal cell and four end cells. The vein on the costal margin (costal vein) and the first longitudinal vein are yellowish. The remaining veins are brown. The legs are very long. On each leg, the tip of the third segment (femur) and the fourth segment (tibia) is dark brown. The abdomen on the female is wider than on the male. Each abdominal segment is light yellowish brown or brownish toward the front and darker toward the rear. The last segment is entirely dark. |
Size |
Total length: ¼″ (6 to 7 mm) |
Similar Species |
Habitat |
Marshes and slow streams |
Biology |
Season |
May to September |
Behavior |
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Life Cycle |
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Larva Food |
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Adult Food |
Unknown |
Distribution |
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Sources |
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12/21/2024 | ||
Occurrence |
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Taxonomy |
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Order |
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Suborder |
Nematocera (long-horned flies) |
Infraorder |
Tipulomorpha (crane flies) |
Superfamily |
Tipuloidea (typical crane flies) |
Family |
Limoniidae (limoniid crane flies) |
Subfamily |
Limoniinae |
Tribe |
Limoniini |
Genus |
Helius |
Subordinate Taxa |
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Synonyms |
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Helius brevirostris Helius prominens Limnobia prominens Rhamphidia brevirostris Rhamphidia flavipes |
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Common Names |
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Maryland Biodiversity Project uses the common name “Two-spotted Crane Fly” for this species. No other source could be found for this or any other common name of this insect. This species has no common name. The common name for the family Anthomyiidae is root maggot flies, and it is applied here for convenience. |
Glossary
Costal margin
The leading edge of the forewing of insects.
Femur
On insects and arachnids, the third, largest, most robust segment of the leg, coming immediately before the tibia. On humans, the thigh bone.
Flagellomere
A segment of the whip-like third section of an insect antenna (flagellum).
Palp
Short for pedipalp. A segmented, finger-like process of an arthropod; one is attached to each maxilla and two are attached to the labium. They function as sense organs in spiders and insects, and as weapons in scorpions. Plural: palpi or palps.
Pedicel
On plants: the stalk of a single flower in a cluster of flowers. On insects: the second segment of the antennae. On Hymenoptera and Araneae: the narrow stalk connecting the thorax to the abdomen: the preferred term is petiole.
Proboscis
The tube-like protruding mouthpart(s) of a sucking insect.
Scape
In plants: An erect, leafless stalk growing from the rootstock and supporting a flower or a flower cluster. In insects: The basal segment of the antenna.
Stigma
In plants, the portion of the female part of the flower that is receptive to pollen. In Lepidoptera, an area of specialized scent scales on the forewing of some skippers, hairstreaks, and moths. In other insects, a thickened, dark, or opaque cell on the leading edge of the wing.
Tibia
The fourth segment of an insect leg, after the femur and before the tarsus (foot). The fifth segment of a spider leg or palp.
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Alfredo Colon |
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Other Videos |
Helius flavipes (ID confirmed by Dr. Jon Gelhaus) doing "push-ups". |
About
Oct 9, 2022 8 October 2022, near St. Gabriel, Iberville Parish, Louisiana. Voucher specimen to ANSP. This species is in the fly family Limoniidae (small craneflies). |
Created: 12/21/2024 Last Updated: © MinnesotaSeasons.com. All rights reserved. |