Crane Fly
Austin, Texas, USA.
Portrait of a crane fly. Austin, Texas, USA.
Tipulidae
The hind wings of true flies are reduced to knob-like structures called halteres, easily visible in this crane fly. Halteres are used in flight as little gyroscopes to help flies balance and orient themselves. Austin, Texas, USA.
Nephrotoma sp.
A pair of Nephrotoma crane flies (Tipulidae) mating in a midwestern meadow. The female is above. Urbana, Illinois, USA
A small crane fly rests on a leaf in an Ecuadorian cloud forest. Mindo, Pichincha, Ecuador.
Scientists have only recently started to study the reflective coloration on insect wings. The oil-like patterns turn out to be species-specific and of unknown function. Mindo, Pichincha, Ecuador
Crane fly pupa. Austin, Texas, USA.
In a coastal rainforest, a tropical crane fly (Tipulidae) rests on a leaf. Morretes, Paraná, Brazil
Epiphragma solatrix
The distinctly banded wings of a Limoniid crane fly. Gatlinburg, Tennessee, USA.
Clogmia albipunctata
Although they resemble small moths, drain and moth flies of the family Psychodidae are true flies. Several species commonly appear in houses where they breed in infrequently cleaned drains. Austin, Texas, USA.
Mycetophilidae
Fungus gnat larvae in their silken galleries. Brackenridge Field Laboratory, Texas, USA.
Neoempheria balioptera
The pupa of a fungus gnat sits protected and suspended in a web it spun during its larval stage. Brackenridge Field Laboratory, Texas, USA.
A newly eclosed fungus gnat pulls itself from the silken tangle left by gnat larvae. Brackenridge Field Laboratory, Texas, USA.
Leia
A mating pair of fungus gnats. Austin, Texas, USA.
Orfelia fultoni
The faint glow of dismalites- the larvae of a keroplatid gnat- is the bluest bioluminescence produced by any known insect. These insects lure prey into sticky silk webs along the mossy wet banks of appalachian ravines and caves. Gatlinburg, Tennessee, USA.
A "dismalite" is a predatory gnat larva found in southern Appalachia that glows blue from both ends of its body as a lure to attract prey. Gatlinburg, Tennessee, USA.
The bluest known bioluminescense of any insect is produced by larvae of a predatory keroplatid gnat, Orfelia fultoni, which lure flying insects to a sticky silk trap. Gatlinburg, Tennessee, USA.
Keroplatidae
Cave webworms are predatory midges whose larvae- like that pictured here- trap prey with sticky silk droplines. Cayo District, Belize.
Several hundred meters into a wet cave, in complete darkness save the illumination of headlamps, predaceous fungus gnat larvae (Keroplatidae) drape sticky draglines to entrap insects that emerge from the running water beneath. Armenia, Belize
An Aedes triseriatus eastern treehole mosquito takes a blood meal. Illinois. filename: triseriatus14
Aedes triseriatus eastern treehole mosquito (larvae). Illinois. filename: triseriatus3
Aedes albopictus Asian Tiger Mosquito. Florida. filename: albopictus1
Close-up photograph of a mosquito. Urbana, Illinois, USA
