Crane fly

Images taken in a controlled environment or with a posed subject. All subject types.

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Guppy
Posts: 320
Joined: Mon Dec 20, 2010 10:36 am
Location: Switzerland
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Crane fly

Post by Guppy »

Hi

The crane fly is a species of mosquito with long legs,
large body with a very small head and mouthparts that are not suitable for biting humans,
mistakenly they are often feared.
When we were children we called them maitlifrässer (girl eaters).
They do not have ocelli, but very beautiful compound eyes.

Image
www.focus-stacking.ch/B/05271_00.JPG

Image detail
Image
www.focus-stacking.ch/B/05271_01.JPG

Camera: Nikon D810
Lens: MITUTOYO M Plan Apo 10X/0.28 ∞/0 f=200
Tube lens: Nikon ITL200
ISO: 64
Lighting: 4 flashes
Diffuser: White writing paper
Shooting file format (RAW/JPG): RAW
Region/Place: Bern, Switzerland
Species name: Tipula spec.
Stacking Software / Method: Zerene Stacker / PMax
Imaging scale: 10:1
Object side image width (mm): 3.6
Number of stack steps: 611
Average stacking step size (µm) with Cognisys StackShot: 2.5

Kurt

NikonUser
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Joined: Thu Sep 04, 2008 2:03 am
Location: southern New Brunswick, Canada

Re: Crane fly

Post by NikonUser »

Nice images.
as a student of entomology I have to comment. Crane Flies are not a species of mosquitoes. Your fly looks like a 'Large Crane Fly', Family Tipulidae. There are other 'Crane Flies' in other families.
Mosquitoes are in the Family Culicidae.

A bit like calling a duck a species of chicken! Ducks are family Anatidae, chickens are family Phasianidae
NU.
student of entomology
Quote – Holmes on ‘Entomology’
” I suppose you are an entomologist ? “
” Not quite so ambitious as that, sir. I should like to put my eyes on the individual entitled to that name.
No man can be truly called an entomologist,
sir; the subject is too vast for any single human intelligence to grasp.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr
The Poet at the Breakfast Table.

Nikon camera, lenses and objectives
Olympus microscope and objectives

Sumguy01
Posts: 1715
Joined: Mon Jan 28, 2013 11:05 pm
Location: Ketchikan Alaska USA

Re: Crane fly

Post by Sumguy01 »

=D> Very nice.
Thanks for sharing.

Guppy
Posts: 320
Joined: Mon Dec 20, 2010 10:36 am
Location: Switzerland
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Re: Crane fly

Post by Guppy »

Hi NikonUser

Thank you for your comment.
Genus = Tipula,
Family = Tipulidae (Schnaken),
Suborder = Nematocera (Mücken),
Order = Diptera (Zweiflügler).
The suborder Nematocera is called "Mücken" in German.
From deepl.com, Mücke is translated as Mosquito in the text.
What is the suborder Nematocera called in English?

This is the reason why Linné introduced the Latin words :D

Another question: How do you like the pictures?

Thanks a lot

A little later,
now i have seen that the matching suborder (Nematocera) is called "crane flies" in english, is that right?

Kurt

pawelfoto
Posts: 90
Joined: Tue Mar 09, 2021 2:51 pm
Location: Poland

Re: Crane fly

Post by pawelfoto »

I like it very much. We, too, as children, were afraid of those "big mosquitoes" with long legs. In the close-up Crane flies always look like creatures out of this planet - they resemble aliens with huge eyes. Great photo quality !
==best Pawel

NikonUser
Posts: 2693
Joined: Thu Sep 04, 2008 2:03 am
Location: southern New Brunswick, Canada

Re: Crane fly

Post by NikonUser »

The traditional system, as seen in most texts, divides the Diptera into 2 suborders: Nematocera and Brachycera.
Nematocera means "thread-horns", the flies have long many-segmented antennae.
Brachycera means "short-horns", the flies have short antennae.
The Family Tipulidae is just one of many families in the Nematocera. In North America there are 24 families in the Nematocera.
There is no common name for all the families in the Nematocera, but an obvious one would be "The long-antennae flies".
It is incorrect to translate Nematocera as Crane Flies. Crane flies are Nematocera as are the other 23 families in North America.
All Crane Flies are Nematocera; not all Nematocera are Crane Flies.

image quality is good (I have a D810). The eye seems to be the main subject. I would prefer that the 'introductory image' be of the entire head,
including all the antennae and the long palps.
NU.
student of entomology
Quote – Holmes on ‘Entomology’
” I suppose you are an entomologist ? “
” Not quite so ambitious as that, sir. I should like to put my eyes on the individual entitled to that name.
No man can be truly called an entomologist,
sir; the subject is too vast for any single human intelligence to grasp.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr
The Poet at the Breakfast Table.

Nikon camera, lenses and objectives
Olympus microscope and objectives

Guppy
Posts: 320
Joined: Mon Dec 20, 2010 10:36 am
Location: Switzerland
Contact:

Re: Crane fly

Post by Guppy »

Hello NikonUser

Thanks for the detailed information, some things become clearer to me.
Entomologists have important knowledge that fortunately I don't necessarily have to have as a photographer. {-(
If you see on a picture also the feeler ends, is the small head, very small and with less Detais.

Kurt

DavyC
Posts: 109
Joined: Sat Sep 22, 2018 1:53 pm
Location: UK

Re: Crane fly

Post by DavyC »

Sometimes known as 'Daddy Longlegs' in the UK. As a young boy if only I had heard the name 'Girl Eaters', what joy to have terrified young screaming girls.

Really Nice capture.

MarkSturtevant
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Location: Michigan, U.S.A.
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Re: Crane fly

Post by MarkSturtevant »

Lovely! We have a species as well with green eyes. It may be the same one.
It is very common to view these as mosquitoes, and one can fully understand why. In the western U.S. there is a species that is very large, and I've seen where the locals are terrified of them.
Mark Sturtevant
Dept. of Still Waters

leonardturner
Posts: 713
Joined: Thu Mar 14, 2013 11:40 am
Location: Atlanta, GA, USA

Re: Crane fly

Post by leonardturner »

Spectacular photography! I don't know which of the two I like better; the eye is certainly the dominant element in both, and beautifully presented.

We called the "Daddy Longlegs" too back in the day.

Leonard

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