2 medium size crane flies

[peterbolson]

There seem to be a lot of this sort of cranefly, all slightly different. Both from long grass. Is there any chance of an ID for them ?

[Laurence Clemons]

The bottom one is Tricyphona immaculata.

[peterbolson]

Thanks Laurence. What features enabled you to ID this one ?

[Laurence Clemons]

The contrasting orange and black femora.

[peterbolson]

Thanks Laurence. That should be fairly easy to remember

[Laurence Clemons]

Under a lens/microscope you will see that this species has hairy eyes - a characteristic of the family Pediciidae.

[peterbolson]

Once again, many thanks Laurence. I wish there was a key available for crane flies which would at least enable one to get to family level. Meanwhile I shall store all your useful tips away for future use

[Laurence Clemons]

There are four families - Tipulidae, Cylindrotomidae, Pediciidae and Limoniidae (plus Ptychopteridae which look like craneflies but are more closely related to owl midges). Alan Stubbs produced some manuscript keys to all species which were circulated among the Dipterists Forum. Perhaps you could see if they are still available. A book on the British craneflies similar to those on Hoverflies and Soldier flies was to be his next major publication.

[peterbolson]

Thanks Laurence. As you probably know I am a member of DF & had wondered about asking for a copy of this key but I thought that perhaps it was only available to participants in the Crane Fly recording scheme.
By the way, could this one be the male of the one you couldn't ID - the wing venation looks identical, but I'm not sure how important this is.

[Laurence Clemons]

This looks more like Austrolimnophila ochracea. Was it from woodland?