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Index of Subjects Ian, I agree with Steve. You have provided an excellent description of a Phantom crane fly (Bittacomorpha clavipes). My own photos of them are so bad that I hesite to post a link, but this one should help as far as identification goes. http://www.pbase.com/crocodile/image/31204883 I occasionally see them around my place here at Round Hill. They like to hang out in soggy areas such as around a little spring that flows through a very shaded area of the property. Also, I almost always see at least one each time I fill water bottles at the spring by the church on Dalhousie Rd. near Lequille. They fly around in the tall grasses where the spring outlet flows. They are difficult to photograph as they usually perch on the undersides of leaves in shady spots. When flying, they are so invisible that the camera has a hard time finding them. As Steve has mentioned, Tipulidae (crane flies) seem plentiful at the moment. In fact, I can't say I have seen such an abundance anywhere in past memory. They come in numbers to the porch lamp at night, which in turn, quickly attracts the bats. I am also finding them drowned in any container where any bit of rainwater has collected during storms. Bev Wigney Round Hill, N.S. (in summer) --- On Thu, 9/8/11, Stephen R. Shaw <srshaw@Dal.Ca> wrote: > From: Stephen R. Shaw <srshaw@Dal.Ca> > Subject: Re: [NatureNS] September Insect I.D. help > To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca > Received: Thursday, September 8, 2011, 12:30 AM > 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 > > >
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