snow fly

(Chionea valga)

Conservation Status
snow fly
Photo by Luciearl
  IUCN Red List

not listed

     
  NatureServe

not listed

     
  Minnesota

not listed

     
           
           
           
 
Description
 
 

Snow fly is a small, wingless, limoniid crane fly. It occurs in North America mostly from Nova Scotia to Ontario, south to Massachusetts and Minnesota, with outlying records in Alberta and Virginia. It is found in woodlands from September through May, but is most active in October to November and February to March. Though believed to be common, it is rarely seen due to its unusual habits. It lives on the ground. It is most often seen on sunny winter days walking on snow near a tree trunk or stone that is warmed by the sun, thus creating an opening in the snow where the insect can emerge.

Snow fly was originally described in by its discoverer 1841. Few other descriptions of it can be found. Adults are brownish-yellow and to 3 16 (3.5 to 5 mm) long, not including the legs. They look more like spiders than flies.

The head is small and hairy. The antennae have 7 or 8 segments. The first two segments are thick. The remaining segments are slender and are covered with hairs.

There are no wings but there is a pair of yellow balancing organs (posiers) at the rear part of the thorax. The female has a long, sword-shaped “borer” at the end of the abdomen. The male has a pair of large claspers at the end of the abdomen.

The legs are long and somewhat paler than the body. They are covered with short hairs. On males the third segment (femur) of the hind leg is thickened.

 
     
 

Size

 
 

Body length: to 3 16 (3.5 to 5 mm)

 
     
 

Similar Species

 
     
     
 
Habitat
 
 

Woodlands

 
     
 
Biology
 
 

Season

 
 

September through May

 
     
 

Behavior

 
 

 

 
     
 

Life Cycle

 
 

The female uses its borer to deposit eggs into the ground.

 
     
 

Adult Food

 
 

 

 
     
 
Distribution
 
 

Distribution Map

 

Sources

24, 29, 30, 82.

 
  4/20/2021      
         
 

Occurrence

 
 

Though believed to be common, there are relatively few records of snow fly since its discovery in 1841.

 
         
 
Taxonomy
 
 

Order

Diptera (flies)  
 

Suborder

Nematocera (long-horned flies)  
 

Infraorder

Tipulomorpha (crane flies)  
 

Superfamily

Tipuloidea (typical crane flies)  
 

Family

Limoniidae (limoniid crane flies)  
 

Subfamily

Chioneinae  
 

Tribe

Cladurini  
 

Genus

Chionea (snow flies)  
 

Subgenus

Chionea  
       
 

Synonyms

 
 

Chionea aspera

Chionea gracilis

Chionea noveboracensis

Chionea waughi

 
       
 

Common Names

 
 

snow fly

thick-legged snow gnat

 
       

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glossary

Femur

On insects and arachnids, the third, largest, most robust segment of the leg, coming immediately before the tibia. On humans, the thigh bone.

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
Visitor Photos
 
           
 

Share your photo of this insect.

 
  This button not working for you?
Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com.
Attach one or more photos and, if you like, a caption.
 
 

Luciearl

 
 

It warmed up into the mid 30's today.

As we walked through the deep snow we often found what looked to be fleas in the animal tracks. After observing this over and over we came to a hole in the snow with a spider crawling out of it. It was eating the pinpoint size 'fleas'.

  snow fly  
           
 
MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos
 
 

 

 
           
           

 

Camera

     
 
Slideshows
 
 
     
     
     

 

slideshow

       
 
Visitor Videos
 
       
 

Share your video of this insect.

 
  This button not working for you?
Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com.
Attach a video, a YouTube link, or a cloud storage link.
 
 

 

 
     
     
       
       
 
Other Videos
 
  Snow fly
penguinpouf
 
   
 
About

Feb 27, 2008

A living snow fly (Chionea valga). Filmed in Bergeronnes (Québec), Feb 25th, 2008, 0°C. Note the jumping snow fleas at the end of the video!

 
       

 

Camcorder

 
 
Visitor Sightings
 
           
 

Report a sighting of this insect.

 
  This button not working for you?
Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com.
Be sure to include a location.
 
  Luciearl
12/22/2019

Location: Fairview Twp, Cass County

It warmed up into the mid 30's today. As we walked through the deep snow we often found what looked to be fleas in the animal tracks. After observing this over and over we came to a hole in the snow with a spider crawling out of it. It was eating the pinpoint size 'fleas'.

snow fly

 
           
 
MinnesotaSeasons.com Sightings
 
 

 

 

 

 

Binoculars


Created: 4/20/2021

Last Updated:

About Us | Privacy Policy | Contact Us | © MinnesotaSeasons.com. All rights reserved.