My teen and I were hiking out on the Wiley Trails this morning, looking for black raspberries, when I spotted something drifting along on the breeze. At first I thought it might be a fluffy seed pod, but it alighted on a leaf and I saw that it was actually two Eastern phantom crane flies (𝘉𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘱𝘩𝘢 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘱𝘦𝘴) mating!  

Even once I realized what they were, they still seemed otherworldly, with the way they don't so much fly as drift along on the air currents like some kind of many-tentacled undersea critter.

#InsectThursday #CraneFlies #flies #diptera #insects #CrittersMating

Found some ferruginous tiger crane flies engaged in their nuptials in the small haven that is my garden. First time I've spotted them here. Hope they hang around.

#craneflies #insectphotography #wildlifegardening #yxe

A Limoniid Crane Fly (family Limoniidae) spotted at Ulu Sembawang Park Connector, Singapore on 24 Nov 2024. A large fly with even longer legs.

On iNaturalist [ https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/254289640 ].

#iNaturalist #Nature #Photography #Singapore #Insects #Flies #Diptera #CraneFlies #Tipulomorpha

A cranefly of some kind, perched on a long reed stalk. There are supposedly about 100 species of cranefly in the UK, and I have no knowledge of how to tell them apart. These insects seem fairly relaxed around humans, and this one didn’t care at all that I was close enough to get a reasonable camera phone photo.

#craneflies

Crane fly o’clock.

#Diptera #craneflies