House of Long Legged Fly

Long Legged Fly 

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Diptera (Flies)

No Taxon (Orthorrhapha)

Superfamily Empidoidea

Family Dolichopodidae (Longlegged Flies)

Explanation of Names

Dolichopodidae Latreille 1809

Numbers

~1300 spp. in almost 60 genera in our area(1)(2), close to 7,400 spp. in ~270 genera total(3)

Size

<1 mm up to 9 mm, usually under 5 mm

Identification

Species vary in appearance and biology. Adults are medium to small slender flies normally with green, blue or copper metallic colored bodies and long legs. Their wings are clear or marked with darker areas towards the wing tips. Wing venation is characteristic.

Range

Worldwide and throughout NA(1)(2)

Habitat

Lightly shaded areas near swamps and streams, in meadows and woodlands.

Food

Mouthparts are for piercing (with a short proboscis). Adults and larvae prey on small insects; larvae of some species mine stems of grasses and other plants or live under bark

Life Cycle

Larvae develop in wet to dry soil and pupate in cocoons made up of soil particles cemented together. Adults mate after elaborate and unique behavior, involving the males displaying their legs to the female.

Print References

Stackelberg A.A. (1930) 29. Dolichopodidae. Die Fliegen der Palaearktischen Region 4(5) (UFL) (in German

http://bugguide.net/node/view/100

i) Dolichopodidae

ii) Crane Fly

The crane flies are members of the family Tipulidae of insects in the order Diptera, true flies in the superfamily Tipuloidea. Cylindrotominae, Limoniinae, and Pediciinae have been ranked as subfamilies of Tipulidae by most authors,[1] though occasionally elevated to family rank. In the most recent classifications, only Pediciidae is now ranked as a separate family, due to considerations of paraphyly.[2]

Crane flies are found worldwide, though individual species usually have limited ranges. They are most diverse in the tropics, and are also common in northern latitudes and high elevations.[3]

The Tipulidae sensu lato is one of the largest groups of flies, including over 15,000 species and subspecies in 525 genera and subgenera.[4] Most crane flies were described by the entomologist Charles Paul Alexander, a fly specialist, in over 1000 research publications.[5] - wikipedia