next message in archive
next message in thread
previous message in archive
previous message in thread
Index of Subjects
Index of Subjects Doesn't fit a 'crane fly' in the strict sense (= from fly family Tipulidae), but fits pretty exactly a fly from a quite different family of similarly 'primitive' (= of ancient origin) flies, the Ptychopteridae. The one seen here occasionally is the 'phantom crane fly' Bittacomorpha clavipes, which floats around in a ghostly fashion without seeming to be flying at all. The legs are quite chunky at the ends and are alternately banded black and white, and are the stand-out things that the eye picks up first when you spot it. You don't have to be a member to check out insects on Bugguide, so just go to: http://bugguide.net then in the search box type Bittacomorpha to see many images come up of this striking species, B. clavipes, which I think is the only common one here in the East. I saw one about a month ago. Echoing Jim Wolford recently, I've been seeing lots of the 'real' September crane flies (Tipula, probably paludosa, ex. European) here in Halifax in the last 10 days, but very little of interest generally otherwise, in the insect line since ~24 July. I have a couple of live traps in the garden and have been catching very little since then, though recently I did catch a couple of the odd pelicinid wasps that Chris Majka mentioned, on successive days (2 different individuals). They also float around slowly and hover over lawns, but are jet black all over and have an extremely long recurved abdomen held like a horizontal question mark -- very distictive. It doesn't sound like that was what you saw. Steve, Halifax ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Quoting I & N <foxhollow@ns.sympatico.ca>: > I saw a fascinating insect today flying above my lawn. > It seemed to be propelling itself through the air as though swiming. > It was very wispy/ephemeral. > I initially mistook it for some sort of seed dispersal fluff. > It was quite capable of darting in another direction when I approached. > It travelled no faster than my walking pace. > It took up a space a bit larger than a toonie in diameter. > I'm not sure if it had either four 'legs' or eight, or if those were > the wings. > The 'legs' might have been the wings, or part of the wings (hey, it > was all in motion!) > These 'legs' were black, possibly with lighter or white bands. > The wings may have been seperate and very transparent. > The dark part of the leg (or wing) as well as the body was very thin > (less than 2mm) > > By the time my wife arrived with the camera I had lost it. > > Below is some ASCII art of the general shape of it. > It almost resembles a water-strider in the air. > \\ // > \\ // > ][ > ][ > // \\ > // \\ > > I am still searching on bugguide.net > Any ideas? > I am no expert, but I am a pretty good student and longtime observer > and I have never seen anything like this. Plus, interesting that it > is early September!? > > Thanks for any ideas. > Ian M. > Hammonds Plains
next message in archive
next message in thread
previous message in archive
previous message in thread
Index of Subjects