limoniid crane fly

(Helius flavipes)

Conservation Status
IUCN Red List

not listed

NatureServe

not listed

Minnesota

not listed

 
limoniid crane fly (Helius flavipes)
Photo by Alfredo Colon
 
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

 

 

Life Cycle

 

 

Larva Food

 

 

Adult Food

Unknown

Distribution

Distribution Map

 

Sources

24, 29, 30, 82, 83.

12/21/2024    
     

Occurrence

 

Taxonomy

Order

Diptera (flies)

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

 

   

Synonyms

Helius brevirostris

Helius prominens

Limnobia prominens

Rhamphidia brevirostris

Rhamphidia flavipes

   

Common Names

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

limoniid crane fly (Helius flavipes)   limoniid crane fly (Helius flavipes)
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Other Videos

Helius flavipes (ID confirmed by Dr. Jon Gelhaus) doing "push-ups".
Van Remsen

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).

 

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Alfredo Colon
6/2/2021

Location: Woodbury, MN

limoniid crane fly (Helius flavipes)
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Created: 12/21/2024

Last Updated:

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