Ginnie Springs, Part 05: A Rather Large Tipulidae Crane Fly

Male cranefly, family Tipulidae (Identification Pending), photographed in Gilchrist county, Florida (12 April 2014).

Another short post for today… Here we see a male crane fly of Family Tipulidae perched atop a flooded palmetto just above the waterline. At this time, I’m not sure which species it was. Further, I may never know. There are many species of craneflies, and this simply isn’t a very good photograph for identification purposes. Still, I wanted to note it in the series for reference.

There were quite a few craneflies doing their thing in the saturated thick of Ginnie Springs during this particular romp. I’ve posted the above image to BugGuide for help. If I learn more from Those-In-The-Know, I’ll be sure to post it here. Similarly, if you think you know what species this may be (or at least the genus), please don’t hesitate to comment below! I’d love to hear what you think, and any help would be greatly appreciated!

Next on Dust Tracks: An incredibly tiny grasshopper! Perhaps the smallest grasshopper I’ve ever photographed!

~ janson