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Photo#457489
Pygmy Phantom Crane Fly - Bittacomorphella

Pygmy Phantom Crane Fly - Bittacomorphella
Lacey (near Olympia), Thurston County, Washington, USA
September 19, 2010
Small crane fly, remarkable white tips to legs. First one that "floated" by in breeze startled me. Wondered what it was. Then a piece of cottonwood floated by, and I convinced myself that the first thing must have been cottonwood also. A little later, second crane fly "floated" by and landed on twig in strong breeze. Only had telephoto lens for birding and the fly landed on twig over water a little ways away. Then floated off again quickly. Lousy pic, I know. Am going back over the next week here hoping for better pics!!

Anyway, I'm wondering if I can call this Bittacomorphella with any confidence at all? It was small, and had the "floating" flying pattern mentioned by Chen and RangerJon here. I also noticed that both Bittacomorpha occidentalis and Bittacomorpha clavipes seem to have more white bands higher on the legs rather than just the terminal white coloring I see in mine and RangerJon's.

Moved

Probably Bittacomorphella
Probably Bittacomorphella. Not Bittacomorpha.

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