Insects - Pests of Ornamental Trees, Shrubs and Flowers - page 162

Order DIPTERA (true flies)

Family TIPULIDAE (crane flies)

Tipula paludosa Meigen ( 363-365 )
Common crane fly
An important and often common pest of protected
ornamentals, hardy nursery stock and herbaceous
garden plants; also damaging to lawns and sports turf.
Holarctic. Present throughout Europe.

Slow-flying insects with wings, legs and bodies long
and narrow; abdomen of females distinctly pointed
posteriorly; adults often called 'daddy-longlegs'. The
larvae, commonly known as 'leatherjackets', are mainly
soil-inhabiting, soft-bodied but tough-skinned; the hind
end bears numerous fleshy papillae.

DESCRIPTION
Adult: 17-25 mm long; body grey with a brownish or
yellowish-red tinge; thorax with faint longitudinal
stripes; wings (13-23 mm long) shorter than body, at
least in female; legs fragile, brown and very long;
antennae 14-segmented. Egg: 1.0

Nephrotoma appendiculata (Pierre) ( 362 )
syn. Pales maculata Meigen
Spotted crane fly
A widely distributed crane fly, particularly abundant in
gardens, the larvae commonly causing damage to
herbaceous plants and seedlings. Adults (12-20 mm
long) are yellow and black, with greyish wings; they are
most abundant in May, depositing their eggs at random
on the soil surface. The greyish-brown larvae (up to
30 mm long) feed on the subterranean parts of host
plants, and usually complete their development in the
following spring. They are distinguished from those of
Tipula paludosa, T. lateralis and T. oleracea by the
short, rounded anal papillae.

0.4 mm; oval, black
and shiny. Larva: up to 45 mm long; brownish grey
with (unless wet) a dull, dusty appearance; body fat and
slightly tapered anteriorly, with a soft but tough,
leathery skin; head black, small and indistinct
(cf. Bibionidae, p. 172); anal segment with a single pair
of elongate anal papillae. Pupa: 20-30 mm long; brown
and elongate, with paired respiratory horns on the head.

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LIFE HISTORY
Adults emerge from June onwards but are most abundant
in late summer or early autumn. Most eggs are laid just
below ground level from mid-August to the end of
September, each female depositing about 300 in batches
of five or six. Eggs hatch about 14 days later. The larvae
then attack plant roots near or at the soil surface. In mild,
muggy nights they also appear on the soil surface to
graze on the base of plant stems. Feeding usually ceases
during the winter to be resumed in the spring. Larvae
become fully grown by about June and then pupate. If
adults invade and lay eggs in greenhouses in the late
summer and autumn, the resulting larvae often complete
their development within a few months and new adults
then emerge from late March onwards.

362

DAMAGE
Leatherjackets graze the roots, corms, rhizomes and
basal parts of stems, often causing plants to wilt; small
plants may be killed, and seedlings completely
destroyed. Large holes are also formed in foliage lying
close to the soil or compost. On outdoor plants,
leatherjacket damage is usually most extensive in the
spring (but see notes on the other species) and in wet
conditions; plants growing in recently ploughed or
broken grassland or pasture are particularly liable to be
attacked. If eggs or leatherjackets are accidentally
introduced with compost, damage also occurs on plants
growing in containers, pots and seed boxes.

362 Female spotted crane fly ( Nephrotoma appendiculata ).