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Sticker of Short-palped tiger crane fly
Bug card No. 3821 of 4,939

Short-palped tiger crane fly

Nephrotoma wulpiana
Eats: PlantsFlies and mosquitoesGardens and meadows6 legs

The short-palped tiger crane fly is a crane fly, a fly with very long, thin legs that looks like a giant mosquito. It is a kind of tiger crane fly. Even though it looks big and spidery, it is gentle.

Lives in
North America, and brought to Spain, Portugal, Brazil and Hawaii
Top speed
about 5 km/h (3.1 mph)
Flying, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It does not bite or sting people.
What does it eat?
Crane fly larvae live in the soil and eat roots and rotting plants.
For real!Photo of Short-palped tiger crane fly
Picture by Pedro Bernardez. CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

It is a form of a crane fly called Nephrotoma suturalis.

2

It lives in the south-eastern and western United States and in New England.

3

People have carried it by accident to Spain, Portugal and Hawaii.

you asked

Most asked questions about Short-palped tiger crane fly

?Is a crane fly a giant mosquito?

No. Crane flies look like big mosquitoes, but they do not bite.

?Is the tiger crane fly dangerous?

No. It cannot bite or sting.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Nephrotoma wulpiana
Named by
Bergroth, 1888
Group
Flies and mosquitoes
Family
Tipulidae
Classification
Insecta > Diptera > Tipulidae
Lives on
North America, Europe, South America, Australia and Oceania

Where the facts come from

  1. Nephrotoma suturalis (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by Pedro Bernardez. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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