True Fly Family Tipulidae (Crane Flies)

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Taxonomic Navigation -?-

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

» Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

» Class Insecta (Insects)

» Order Diptera (True Flies)

» Family Tipulidae (Crane Flies)

5 genera aren't included.

Common Name

Match	Common Name
	Crane Flies

Pictures Below ↓

Craneflies are only occasionally important. There are rumors of fishable mating flights, but most anglers will not encounter them. The larvae are probably the most important stage in the trout's diet.

Hatching Behavior

Craneflies pupate for one to three weeks. The species which do so in the water then swim to the surface to emerge in the style of caddisflies, and are presumably vulnerable to trout, though I have not read about good fishing during these events.

Swisher and Richards in Selective Trout say the larvae all crawl out of the water to pupate, conflicting with the above account. There are so many species that it seems likely both behaviors occur in some species.

Egg-Laying Behavior

Adult craneflies are occasionally important during their mating flights when their clumsy flying can crash them by accident into the water. Windy days may also blow them in.

Larva & Pupa Biology

Diet: Mostly vegetation

Many cranefly species live in many different underwater habitats, and others live in moist soil nowhere near the dirt. We anglers are only concerned with the former.

They live as larvae for about a year and sometimes the larvae end up in the drift in good enough numbers to get the trout excited. Buggy grub-like flies are locally known to perform well on certain rivers, and this may be due to a good population of drifting cranefly larvae (or perhaps I speculate too far). In general, larvae are more likely to be important than the adults.

Ernest Schwiebert notes in Matching the Hatch that they are most common in trout stomachs after the water has been high.

8 Crane Fly Specimens:

Specimen Page:12

Tipulidae (Crane Flies) Crane Fly Adult

View 15 Pictures

Region: Poconos

Collected May 29, 2007

Added Jun 4, 2007

Tipulidae (Crane Flies) Crane Fly Larva

View 5 Pictures

Region: Northeast

Collected Mar 30, 2007

Added Apr 2, 2007

Tipulidae (Crane Flies) Crane Fly Adult

View 3 PicturesThis is a small cranefly species.

Region: Upper Midwest

Collected May 18, 2004

Added Jan 25, 2006

Specimen Page:12

1 Streamside Picture of Crane Flies:

View Full Size (2.7X larger)

Several craneflies formed a mating cluster here in a dark rootwad along the bank of a large limestone trout stream.

In this picture: True Fly Family Tipulidae (Crane Flies).

RegionPA Limestone

Date TakenMay 26, 2007

Date AddedJun 5, 2007

CameraPentax Optio WPI

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Jargon Defined:

Larvae: Many classes of aquatic insects, such as caddisflies, midges, craneflies, dobsonflies, alderflies, and many more, are known as "larvae" rather than "nymphs" in their juvenile stages. They have mostly soft bodies rather than hard exoskeletons. These insects also advance through a "pupa" stage before reaching adulthood.

Useful References:

Schwiebert, Ernest G. 1955. Matching the Hatch. MacMillan Publishing Company.

Swisher, Doug and Carl Richards. 2000. Selective Trout. The Lyons Press.

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