Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada

Genus Tipula

crane fly - Tipula - female Crane Fly - Tipula BG742 C7532 - Tipula tricolor - male BG795 C7899 - Tipula disjuncta - male Crane Fly - Tipula tephrocephala Crane Fly - Tipula paterifera - male - female Tipula hermannia Crane fly with damaged wing - Tipula megaura
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Diptera (Flies)
No Taxon ("Nematocera" (Non-Brachycera))
Infraorder Tipulomorpha
Family Tipulidae (Crane Flies)
Genus Tipula
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Tipula Linnaeus, 1758
Explanation of Names
From Latin tipula (or tippula) a water spider (1) (2). (Nettleship, 1889, Contributions to Latin Lexicography--via Googlebooks--gives meaning of tippula as "water fly", quoting original Latin sources.)
Numbers
Nearctica.com lists about 473 species.
Arnett, p. 851, lists 27 subgenera. (3)
Size
Typically 10-25 mm
Identification
Large craneflies, and a huge genus in terms of species. Technical characters are no doubt needed for identification. A few species in this large genus are distinctively marked.
Print References
Arnett, p. 851, fig. 29.12--T. trivittata (3)
Borror, entry for tipula (1)
The Century Dictionary, entry for Tipula (2)
Salsbury pp. 379-380, photos T. abdominalis, dorsimacula, furca, triplex (4)
Swan and Papp, pp. 585-586, figs. 1252-1256, illustrates and describes several species. (5)