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Crane fly
family of flies / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Crane flies are flies in the family Tipulidae. They are insects. Crane flies look similar to large mosquitoes but, unlike mosquitoes, crane flies do not bite people or animals. Crane flies occasionally eat nectar.
Crane fly | |
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Nephrotoma appendiculata (spotted crane fly) | |
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Tipula sp. larva | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Diptera |
Superfamily: | Tipuloidea |
Family: | Tipulidae Latreille, 1802 |
Genera | |
See text |
They are also known as daddy longlegs around the world. The term 'daddy-long-legs' is also given to arachnids of the order Opiliones or the family Pholcidae. The larvae of crane flies are known commonly as leatherjackets.[1]
There are about 15,000 different species and 525 genera of crane flies. This means that the Tipulidae (crane flies) are the largest group of flies. Most crane fly species (75%) were found by Charles P. Alexander.
The adult only lives to mate and lay eggs: 10 to 15 days is all.[2] In some species the adult does not eat at all.