Looks like a dragonfly to me but MB is definitely the expert. Like you I always think of her when I see a bug of some sort - which is funny being married to an exterminator.
The crane fly is a member of the family of insects in the order Diptera, the true flies in the superfamily Tipuloidea. This page is about Tipulidae sensu stricto. Cylindrotomidae, Limoniidae, Pediciidae are ranked as subfamilies of Tipulidae by some authors.[1] Here they are treated separately as families.[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] The family sensu stricto includes over 4000 species in 115 genera.[4] Most crane flies were described by the entomologist Charles Paul Alexander, a fly specialist, in over 1000 research publications.[5]
@bobfoto Yep! Jason is right, Katy! A crane fly. Now that I know they don't bite, I sort of like these things. A few weeks ago, they were "roosting" in the tall grass by the lakehouse. It was a dewy grass/sunny morning and they would rise up out of the grass like faeries! Nice shot. sorry I did not see it when you posted it. You KNOW why.
(someone has Pringles)
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] The family sensu stricto includes over 4000 species in 115 genera.[4] Most crane flies were described by the entomologist Charles Paul Alexander, a fly specialist, in over 1000 research publications.[5]