Mosquito Hawk

Yeah, sorry. All I have is an iPhone. It won't focus on anything inside of two feet. So my choices are a really good macro shot, a far away picture that makes the insect too tiny to gather any useful information, or a close-up blurry shot. I choose quality. Besides, this site could use some better photography. It keeps people interested. I already know what most of my sightings are. I'm a scientist. I post sightings so that others can feel good about discovering what it is.

Spotting below shows two craneflies mating. You can see the body markings clearly.

http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/104...

Remember the aim of Noah is to be able to identify spottings, where macro shots allow detail of specific features, it is important to show the complete organism so that everybody can help to identify an unknown spotting.

Also. For a preview of a video I am making about a spider I've been documenting, check out this short clip I made. I plan on making a full 10 minute video soon.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J719XAHtH...

Thank you for your comments! I have macro shots of a daddy Longlegs that I'm pretty proud of also. I use an IPhone with an Olloclip attached so unfortunately it is hard to get full body shots of insects that aren't flat because each part of their body is in a different plane of focus. I was surprised to hear that Crane Flies aren't mosquito eaters! Weird how you get some things ingrained in your psyche for a lifetime.

These are wonderful macro shots! Such an interesting face shape.
Do you have any photos of the entire body?
Though some people call these interesting insects Mosquito Hawks, believing that they eat mosquitoes, they are actually called Crane Flies. Adult Crane Flies do not eat or drink. They live long enough to mate and lay eggs ( in the case of the female, anyway).

Judging by the pattern on the thorax, I would say that this is probably a Tiger Crane Fly species. It looks similar to this:
http://bugguide.net/node/view/113618

Here is the section for Tiger Crane Flies from bugguide.net:
http://bugguide.net/node/view/12486/bgpa...

I hope this helps with a more specific ID for your fly!