Giant Crane Fly

Tipula abdominalis · Order: Diptera · Family: Tipulidae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Giant Crane Fly
Photo: Douglas Hooper, CC BY

The larvae live in water-adjacent habitats such as streams and riverbanks. Adults feed on leaf litter that is broken down by microbes in their hind gut.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it lives

Larvae are found in riparian aquatic environments.

Source: Wikipedia

What it eats

They consume leaf litter, relying on gut microbes to digest it.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 35 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland, Michigan, Massachusetts.

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

Source: GBIF

Status: native in North America; native in Canada. Source: iNaturalist

Months it is reported in the US

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Source: GBIF

More photos

Giant Crane Fly photo 3
Photo: Zachary Dankowicz, CC BY
Giant Crane Fly photo 4
Photo: Zachary Dankowicz, CC BY
Giant Crane Fly photo 5
Photo: Healthy Yards, CC BY
Giant Crane Fly photo 6
Photo: Katja Schulz, CC BY

Same family (Tipulidae)

European Crane FlyEuropean Crane FlyTipula paludosaDamages trees, gardens or cropsMarsh Crane FlyMarsh Crane FlyTipula oleraceaDamages trees, gardens or cropsFerruginous Tiger Crane FlyFerruginous Tiger Crane FlyNephrotoma ferrugineaSpotted CraneflySpotted CraneflyNephrotoma appendiculataTipula dorsimaculaTipula dorsimaculaTipula dorsimaculaCraneflyCraneflyNephrotoma cornicina

Sources

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

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

Text written 2026-10-22 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.