The Giant Cranefly (Female)

The Giant Cranefly is the largest of the British Craneflies, having a leg span of 100mm. It’s size and it’s heavily patterened wings, makes this Cranefly easy to identify.

As with several other craneflies, it has an aquatic phase in the development cycle. The female lays her eggs in the damp fringes of ponds, ditches and streams and the larvae hatch into an aquatic existence just below the water surface, living on submerged decaying vegetable material. Their continued development takes place in submerged leaf litter. In order to survive below water, aquatic insect larvae develop their own unique breathing apparatus. The Giant Cranefly larvae raises the rear of its abdomen to the surface of the water to breathe.

Tipula maxima is found in well vegetated, moist areas and damp woodland from April to August.

A common and widespread species in Britain.