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Mating Crane Flies

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Subject: what kind of bug is this
Location: manchester,connecticut
May 22, 2013 6:45 am
This was found at 9am in Connecticut. It had rained pretty hard with thunder and lightning the night before. I legt to bring the kids to school and daycare. Which took about 30 minutes and it was in the same position when I got back.
Signature: norm delaura

Crane Flies Mating

Crane Flies Mating

Hi Norm,
These are mating Crane Flies in the infraorder Tipulomorpha which can be browsed on BugGuide if you want to try to determine the species.  Because of their long legs, Crane Flies were named after the long legged wading birds called cranes.  Crane Flies are mistakenly called Mosquito Hunters in some parts of the country.  Most Crane Flies do not eat as adults and they do not bite humans.  We will contact Dr. Chen Young who runs the Crane Flies of Pennsylvania website to see if he is able to provide a species identification.

Dr. Chen Young responds:
A mating pair of Tipula trivittata.
Chen

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What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Louse Fly

On · Category: Louse Flies · Add Comment

Subject: Flat shaped black colored flying insect
Location: living room, bedroom
May 21, 2013 5:37 pm
Flat shaped black colored flying insect, very irritating and stubborn.
Signature: .

Louse Fly

Louse Fly

Dear .,
This is a Louse Fly in the family Hippoboscidae.  Adults feed on blood.  According to BugGuide:  “Most are host specific on bird species, with a few occurring on mammals.”  One species feeds on the blood of sheep and is known as the Sheep Ked.  Perhaps you live near an area where sheep are raised, but since we don’t know where you are located, we cannot say for certain.  If their preferred host is not available, opportunistic Louse Flies may bite humans.

Your concern was appreciated, keep it going!
As for my location, my locality homes quite many pigeons and cats, if that’s what these Louse Flies are feeding on.

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What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Horse Fly from Costa Rica

On · Category: Horse Flies and Deer Flies Tagged With: · Add Comment

Subject: Giant True Fly
Location: Tortuguero, Costa Rica
May 21, 2013 2:31 pm
Hi Bugman,
I live in the coastal rainforest of Costa Rica and find all kinds of large and interesting bugs on a regular basis, but this was pretty impressive. I’m guessing she’s a female because there appears to be an ovipositor, but I don’t know much about Diptera. Hoping you can help!
Signature: Jennifer

Horse Fly

Horse Fly

Hi Jennifer,
WOW, that is some big Horse Fly in the family Tabanidae.  In addition to the ovipositor, you can tell she is a female because of the spacing between her eyes.  Male Horse Flies have no spacing between the eyes.  You Horse Fly looks somewhat similar to the mounted image of Myiotabanus muscoideus pictured on Sciency Thoughts, and that species is found from Mexico and Guatemala according to the site.  We have not been able to locate anything definite regarding the identification of your distinctly large Horse Fly, but perhaps one of our readers will have better luck.

Horse Fly

Horse Fly

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What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Giant Western Crane Fly

On · Category: Crane Fly · Add Comment

Subject: What is this bug!!!???
Location: Portland, Oregon
May 16, 2013 12:26 pm
Hi Bugman..
My friend took a pic of this in Portland, Oregon. People are saying it’s a spider, but it has 6 legs! Looks like it has wings and a snout~
Signature: Thanks, Clancy

Crane Fly

Giant Western Crane Fly

Hi Clancy,
This is a Crane Fly.  Those black “knees” look distinctive, so we attempted a web search to determine a species identity and we found a similar photo on the Fontenelle Nature Association Nature Search website that is identified as Tipula dorsimacula.  Though the images on BugGuide also have black knees, we are not certain of the species being correct for your Crane Fly, so we are contacting Chen Young, a Crane Fly expert for his opinion.

Dr. Chen Young responds
Daniel,
This one is Holorusia haspera, the largest crane fly species in the western states.
Chen

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What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Male Green Horse Fly

On · Category: Horse Flies and Deer Flies · Add Comment

Subject: Green Horse Fly
Location: Palm Coast, Fl
May 14, 2013 11:23 am
I saw this guy flitting about the plants near my house and he had me rather baffled to what he is. Thanks to your site I was able to identify him as the Green Horse Fly and also found out he was the harmless male (phew!). He made for a great bug model though, let me get real close without a worry. Bugguide says that only females seek out mammalian blood, so I guess males go after nectar of some sort? He was very interested in the wild flowers, and that’s where I lost sight of him. I love this site and I hope you guys like my photos.
Signature: Monica Velazquez

Green Horse Fly

Green Horse Fly

Hi Monica,
We really do love your photo of a male Green Horse Fly, Chlorotabanus crepuscularis, the only green member of the family in North America.  You can tell by the closely spaced eyes that your Green Horse Fly is a male.

Green Horse Fly

Green Horse Fly

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What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Fly from Tennessee likely Dark Winged Fungus Gnat

On · Category: Gnats · Add Comment

Subject: Flying insect
Location: Hendersonville, TN
May 11, 2013 10:20 am
Hello,
I live in Hendersonville TN and recently painted the front of my home. In the past couple of days I have noticed hundreds of these bugs on the house, or flying around near the gutters. Can you please tell me what they are, and how to get rid of them. Are they termites?
Thanks
Signature: Greg Sisk

What's That Fly???

What’s That Fly???

Hi Greg,
We are uncertain how to classify this Fly.  We thought it resembled a March Fly, and that would explain the large numbers, but the antennae are wrong for typical March Flies.  Perhaps one of our readers can provide an identification.  We have also requested assistance from Eric Eaton.

Eric Eaton Responds:
Reminds me most of a dark-winged fungus gnat, family Sciaridae, but could be a gall midge, too….
Eric

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What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Crane Fly from Serbia

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Subject: Unindentified Flying Insect
Location: Belgrade, Serbia, Europe
May 9, 2013 2:28 pm
Hello,
I caught this insect a this evening, and can not find it on Google, so I’m wondering if you could help me. I never saw an insect like this, not even remotely similar.
Insect was caught on May 9th, weather has been unseasonably warm for 3 weeks, I live less than a mile from the river. Insect is little over 1 inch long (from head to the end of the body, without antenna).
I hope you can help me find out what species is this,
thank you in advance,
Janja
Signature: Janja Bobic

Crane Fly

Crane Fly

Hi Janja,
This is a Crane Fly in the family Tipulidae, and judging by those beautiful plumose antennae, this is a male.  Crane Flies are true flies with a single pair of wings.  We will contact Dr. Chen Young of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History to see if he can identify the species.  It looks similar to the Ctenophora species on Diptera Info.

Thank you so much for your answer, I really appreciate it. This beautiful insect sparked a huge interest in my class today.
sincerely,
Janja Bobic

Hi Janja,
We got an “out of office” reply from Dr Chen Young, but we might get an update from him in a few weeks.

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What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Greater Bee Fly

On · Category: Bee Flies · Add Comment

Subject: fly/mosquito/moth/wasp
Location: New Jersey, USA
May 5, 2013 6:46 am
this guy seems to be a combination of the 4
Signature: Susan

Greater Bee Fly

Greater Bee Fly

Dear Susan,
When the common name for Bombylius major was given, someone noticed that this True Fly had some physical traits that resembled those of a Bee, hence the moniker Greater Bee Fly.  Indeed, the scientific binomial shares an ancient root with the tribe of Bumble Bees which is Bombini.  The Greater Bee Fly is also found in Europe, including the UK, and it is unknown to us where the species originated.  Your interesting subject line really caught our attention. BugGuide has this description of members of the Bee Fly Family Bombyliidae:  “Hairy, often brightly colored flies. Legs usually slender, Wings often have dark markings, held outstretched at rest. Face not hollowed out. Eyes almost touching above, especially in males. Proboscis either short with broad tip, or long and used to take nectar. Hover and dart, rather like syrphid flies. Females sometimes seen hovering over sandy areas, dipping abdomen to oviposit.”  Additional information on diet includes:  “larvae are mostly external parasitoids of holometabolous, esp. soil-inhabiting, larvae (Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera, Diptera), slowly consuming the host completely without making a visible wound; a few are endoparasites, predators (esp. on grasshopper eggs), or kleptoparasites; adults take nectar/pollen” and the life cycle is described as:  “larvae undergo hypermetamorphosis: 1st instar larva is active and penetrates the host’s nest, then turns into a sedentary parasitoid; pupa is equipped with spines/spikes to drill out of the nest.”

Greater Bee Fly

Greater Bee Fly

Fascinating! Thanks so much!!

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What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination