Insect Picture of the Day

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This cranefly picture comes from Andrew Lin, who has a great name for it:

I was just about to go out into the backyard when I got buzzed by this
mosquito hawk. I guess the proper common name is Crane Fly (genus
Tipula), but I’ve always referred to them as “mosquito hawks” (even
though, if Wikipedia is correct, they don’t eat mosquitoes) or “those
really fragile long-limbed flying things”. Anyway, it bounced off the
sliding glass door for a bit, then landed on the frame to recover from
the concussion, allowing me to take some pictures.

Andrew says it was about 15-20mm long.

I was about to post this as a mosquito—in fact, I had it slotted up as such. I was about to point out that you can’t see the halteres (the little nubby “fiddly bits” where the hind wings would be on a four-winged bug), but then I remembered how bad I suck at identifying bugs, and had another look. You’ll need the larger image to see them, but they’re there. Look where the far hind leg raises up from the body: that little clear dot is the haltere.

Thanks, Andrew!

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AJ Reardon sends in today’s picture, a cranefly that stopped briefly on the wall.

I like how the halteres stand out here, especially with the flash casting shadows of them on the wall. Nice! (Note: after publishing, I noticed that the image reducing tool I use blurred the small image a bit. You may need to check the larger image to see the halteres clearly.)

I have to confess that I have an irrational fear of craneflies. Not like running screaming from the room or anything, but with being able to handle them barehanded. When I was a kid my mom told me they were giant mosquitoes, and I was sure that if one bit me it would extract bone marrow rather than blood. So now I’m a grownup and I research bugs as a hobby and I know they’re safe.

And I still have to get a cup to catch them in so I don’t have to touch them.

Hey, just because I know my fear is irrational does not mean my fear is not a fear.

Thanks, AJ!

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Reader Tim Eisele sends in this crazy photograph. This a snowfly, a cold-blooded insect that actually lives part of its active life cycle wandering around in the snow! This is cold-adaptation at its finest–the snowflies actually come out to mate and lay eggs in the snow.

Related to craneflies, they have small halteres behind their wings like their cousins. This one doesn’t have wings; I don’t know if they lose them during part of their life cycle or if they just don’t have them at all. In which case, I have to wonder, why aren’t they called snowwalks?

Tim has written up an even better report on this critter, so I’ll just direct you to his own blog, somethingscrawlinginmyhair.com, which I am forced to admit is a way better blog name than insectpod.com. He’s also got a few more pictures of this snowfly. Check it out.

Thanks, Tim!

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Reader Cornelius sends in this photo of a crane fly (I think). He says it’s about 1.5cm long, which might make it a mosquito (though quite a large one). In this photo, it’s sitting in the corner of the windowsill… probably dreaming of warmer temperatures outside.

Craneflies usually have a broader schnoz than this bug, but mosquitoes usually have longer ones, so I’m not really sure what kind of bug this is. I really like the dramatic lighting of the photo, even if it does make identification trickier.

Any experts care to take a stab at identification?

Thanks Cornelius!

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After an evening’s walk a couple of months ago, my camera was out of juice when this cranefly buzzed across right in front of me and then landed in the scrub next to the path. My camera turned on, complaining loudly of nearly dead batteries, especially when I told it wanted to use the flash, but after half a minute I got one solitary picture before the camera folded back up and refused to play anymore.

If you look closely at the larger image, you can just make out one of the halteres, or poisers, behind its wing.

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This is the same cranefly from yesterday. Given the size of this critter (4cm long, 5cm wingspan) I felt that it was necessary to show that it doesn’t have a proboscis. If it did, this would be a “bone marrow mosquito”.

I had to trade off between showing the whole bug and getting a tight closeup on its face; you can use the larger resolution to get a better view.

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This closeup of a cranefly shows a really bizarre piece of anatomy: a pair on nodules sticking out behind the wings. I have observed several craneflies since noticing this anatomical feature, and they all have it.

I have no clue what it is, though. [Edit: Reader Andy did my homework for me. They are called Halteres.]

This weekend we’ll be getting a twofer: tomorrow’s picture we’ll take a closer look at the cranefly’s face.

(I know, I know, I don’t like to run the same bug two days in a row. But the timing is just right for it–i.e. it’s the weekend.)

[Edit: Forgot to post the size. This critter is actually rather big. It's about 3-4cm long with a 5cm wingspan.]