Nice to see a major newspaper pick up entomology news:

“Snow fly in US and Canada can detach its legs to survive, research shows”

“Flies chilled to sub-zero temperatures amputate one or more of their six limbs to protect their internal organs”

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jun/02/snow-fly-in-us-and-canada-can-detach-its-legs-to-survive-research-shows

Featuring @tuthill no less!

“It’s gruesome”, he says—ah the wonders of the insect world.

The paper: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.05.29.541388v1.full.pdf

By the way John; care to tell us about daddy long legs? To me that’s an opillion, a kind of spider. Not a fly!

#insects #entomology #SnowFlies #SnowFly #Diptera #CraneFlies

The wing patterns on this Crane fly, Epiphragma ocellare are wonderful.
#craneflies #Insects #diptera #Nature #entomology

The wing patterns on this Crane fly, Epiphragma ocellare are wonderful.
#craneflies #Insects #diptera #Nature #entomology

This year, I have avoided #mowingthelawn so far, to allow the natural #florafauna to develop. Every #summer I have a huge problem with #craneflies and they arrived earlier than normal this year. Yet, there have been lots of #chaffinches in my #garden and amazingly no crane flies-which is a god send. My garden is getting unruly though, shall I give it a mow or not? I won’t cut the grass till July/August if I do, but should I wait till June? What is best for the #biodiversity? Help please?

Ra Ra rarara Tipulid romance!
(apologies to Lady Gaga...)
#Tipula furca, a large Crane Fly.
#Fujifillm X-S10, #Laowa 65mm #macro
South #Georgia

More photos here including the mechanical bits 😉
inaturalist.org/observations/1…

#Macrophotography
#Diptera
#NaturePhotography
#CraneFlies

Take a trip through the #fly #collection at the #Natural #History #Museum #London with #Erica #McAlister (Senior #Curator, #Flies and #Fleas).

“There are more species of fly within the #United #Kingdom than there are mammal species on the whole planet. A single family of flies—the #craneflies ( #Tipulidae)—includes more described species than all #mammals and #birds combined.”

🔗 https://www.americanscientist.org/article/a-curators-tour-through-fly-collections

I have a question about #craneflies for an entomologist. People around here call them "mosquito hawks," due to a folk belief that they prey on mosquitos. Based on what I've read, this is impossible; however, we don't actually know what adult craneflies eat, or even WHETHER they eat. Is this still the case, or has recent research shed more light on this?
#bugs #entomology #flyday

Another photo from 2022. Nephrotoma flavipalpis (I think) #craneflies #diptera #macrophotography

This was an interesting find. A Crane Fly spotted at Mount Faber Park, Singapore, on 9 Sept 2018. It was resting below the railing and was pretty big. It's body was a few cm long.

#iNaturalist #Nature #Photography #Singapore #Insects #CraneFlies

More shots on iNaturalist [ https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/16347782 ].