A global community of nature enthusiasts
photographing and learning about wildlife
Project Noah Nature School
Family: Tipulidae
Please help me id this thing: I want to know whether to set it free or kill it. It looks like a mosquito, but it's huge! About 10-12cm in span, wingspan looks to be about 5cm (not that I'm getting too close!).
Cairns (the wet tropics, near the northern-most tip), Australia
Spotted on Apr 10, 2012
Submitted on Apr 10, 2012
6 Comments
A crane fly would never attack you, compared to nasty mosquitos...
He's either a black crane fly or a spider crane fly, and completely harmless!
Thanks, bayucca. We ended up setting it free coz it was not trying to attack us, plus it looked distressed after it trapped itself inside the house.
Some of your area:
http://www.brisbaneinsects.com/brisbane_...
Some kind of a crane fly with very long legs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crane_fly
I'm not an expert on the I.D. I would set it free.