Crane fly

Symplecta pilipes · Order: Diptera · Family: Limoniidae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Crane fly
Photo: Catherine C. Galley, CC BY

Symplecta pilipes lives in many moist environments such as humus-rich soil, swamps, marshes, leaf litter and wet spots in woods. It is a Palearctic species, occurring across the Palearctic region.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it lives

Found in humus-rich earth, swamps, marshes, leaf litter and wet woodland spots.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

Occurs throughout the Palearctic region.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 26 of 51 states and DC. Most records: California, Utah, Colorado, Texas, New York, New Mexico, Maryland, Arizona.

Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.

Source: GBIF

Months it is reported in the US

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Source: GBIF

More photos

Crane fly photo 3
Photo: Wendy McCrady, CC BY
Crane fly photo 4
Photo: unknown, CC0
Crane fly photo 5
Photo: er-birds, CC BY
Crane fly photo 6
Photo: Logan Jones, CC BY

Same family (Limoniidae)

Sixspot CraneflySixspot CraneflyLimonia nubeculosaSpectacled Crane FlySpectacled Crane FlyEpiphragma solatrixCan damage your homeDicranomyia aegrotansDicranomyia aegrotansDicranomyia aegrotansAmphineurus hudsoniAmphineurus hudsoniAmphineurus hudsoniDiscobola striataDiscobola striataDiscobola striata

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symplecta_pilipes

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.

How this page works

This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.